Life NEVER was Normal
by Tashasaurous
Summary: AU: Season 3-After the great battle against Hades and Chernabog, things are somewhat back to normal for our heroes of Radiant Academy. Of course, it wasn't long before they are sent to more crazy adventures, even in the lighter notes! Continuing from "Life DEFINATELY not Normal". Episode 22 up! COMPLETED!
1. Episode 1: Where's Minnie?

**Life NEVER was Normal.**

 **Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the delay of starting season 3 and the other stories on hiatus. I'd been on a KH3 story mood lately and was also planning on updating "Kingdom Hearts: Before Crisis" too. I will get around to the other stories...it'll just be really slow. Well, finally, season 3 has officially started, and I got a lucky break this weekend to continue writing.**

 **It's a week early, but I've decided to post this because Saturday's my Birthday next week.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 1: Where's Minnie?

It's been a month since the final battle against both Hades and Chernabog, and things had relatively returned to normal for everyone in Radiant City, and possibly even better now that Pete had been kicked out of the Academy and sent to Galbadian Academy instead. Even more so, due to his actions, Vanitas transfered from his school to become a student, and had brought Roxas, Xion and Namine with him, much to the delight of Sora, Riku, Kairi, Yuffie, Tidus and Yuna.

Today was a different day, though. Almost everybody's been acting quite strangely, and Mickey was the first to notice, because no matter where he went or who he asked around the school, people were acting like they were hiding something. Well, except both Iago and Mushu who were both doing something else.

Which left only a few more people to ask.

"Minnie? Have ya' noticed everybody acting strang-" Mickey began as he entered his girlfriend's favorite garden she usually spend time in that was in the backyard of her dorm. Which was way he found himself stopping when he found not Minnie, but Goofy wearing a red skirt with white panties, red high-heeled shoes and a great big bow on top of his head, watering the flowers.

"Goofy?" Mickey asked, dumbfounded.

"Hi-ya, Mickey!" Goofy greeted when he turned around after hearing his friend's voice after stopping what he was doing.

"What're you doin' here?"

"Doin' Minnie's favorite hobby to water the flowers. You like my bow?"

"Cute." Mickey replied, awkwardly while mentally sighing at his friend's usual goofiness, before asking, "Where's Minnie?"

Being Goofy that he was, he couldn't get the facts right and keep a secret even to save his life. "Oh, uh, she went to find you a Birthday surprise."

"Birthday Surprise?" Mickey asked, before quickly remembering that today was his birthday. It was just his speculation, but maybe that was why almost everyone was acting quite strange. Maybe they were preparing a birthday party for him.

"Yup." Goofy replied, before whispering, "But don't tell yourself. 'Cause ya' might ruin it."

Too late for that now, Goofy. You just ruined it yourself.

"Shhh! Don't you tell Mickey either, Ms, Authory." Goofy broke the fourth wall while shushing at the Authoress(Me).

"It's Authoress." I sighed in exasperation. Anyway, back to the story.

"But that doesn't explain where she is." Mickey pointed out, ignoring the comment.

"Oh, she went to the Prompt Room with the Head-Masters' permission." Goofy answered, pointing at the map-board near them which Minnie always had with her.

Mickey's eyes widened in great worry and shock. There was a good reason why no student was allowed in the Prompt Room; it was a very easy place to get lost for students who didn't know their around unless they had someone with them.

"Oh no! She'll get lost in there!" Mickey cried out, worriedly, before quickly calming down as another logical thought came to mind. "Unless she took Genie and Pluto with her. She did take either of them with her, right?"

"Hmmm...let me check." Goofy thought deepily, just as both Pluto and Genie poofed out of nowhere and before Genie could even speak, Goofy asked, "Did you both go with Minnie?"

"Uh, no? Why do ya' ask?" Genie shrugged, while Pluto shook his head and made a noise that sounded like, 'Nuh-uh.'

"Oh no...!" Mickey gasped, greatly worried now.

* * *

Of course, being boys, Mickey and the others didn't know that Minnie actually had a good sense of direction and thus, was clever enough not to get herself lost and do the most other logical thing even the Headmasters did; read and follow the signs, which is what she did. For the second time in a row this morning, Minnie found herself back to where she came from earlier; with three signs that one pointing left that said "This way", and one that pointed in the direction where she just came from behind her that said, "That way".

"Hmmm, well I already went This Way, and That Way." Minnie said to herself, gazing at the sign that said Yonder and decided, "Guess I'll have to try Yonder."

Which was what she did, in her quest to find the perfect Birthday Surprise for Mickey.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Cafeteria, Ven, Aqua, Terra, Donald, Lea, Isa, Cloud, Tifa, Zack, Aerith, Reno, Rude, Elena, Cissnei, Melody, the rest of the students and even the Headmasters and teachers were all decorating the entire room with colourful streamers, balloons, party hats with games, ect., while Selphie was rehearshing for a birthday song and the school's chiefs were brining out all kinds of delicious sweets and a large birthday cake while Lea had suggested for all kinds of take-outs to make things faster and easier, which included all flavours of Pizza.

Well...almost everyone was helping.

"A Birthday Party as big as this for one person." Iago, who was just standing on one of the tables, rolled his eyes in exasperation at the stupid activity that was happening all around him. "It's almost as though it were Jasmine's birthday or somethin'."

"You're just jealous that your birthday was never like this." Lea stated as he was finishing up tying another bunch of streamers by the windows.

"Please, my idea of a birthday is peace and quiet with no noise, a nice comfy pillow chair with free food and shakes and sleep." Iago shook his head, still not understanding what the big fuss is all about just for Mickey.

"That's just your idea in general." Isa pointed out, with a skeptical look that said, ' _Seriously?_ '.

While that was going on, Ven, who'd been busy setting up the tables, noticing a soft munching before he turned to the source of the sound and scowled, "Mushu!"

Mushu, who'd been dying to eat the large cake secretly, turned when he heard Ven's voice and tried to act innocent despite that his mouth was covered in chocolate frosting and his mouth was full of food. "I'm-not-eating-cake." He managed to muffle.

"Mushu..." Melody sighed, approaching the dragon when she and everyone else noticed.

"But it's Chocolate Cheese cake!" Mushu, seeing how he'd been caught, pointed out.

"And it's for Mickey." The half-human-half-mermaid added, gently.

"And it's for Mickey..." Mushu repeated in guilt and disappointment, spitting out the large ball of chewed up cake and placed it back onto where he'd began chewing it, much to the disgust of Iago, Lea, Isa and Donald who'd been busy finishing up placing the large sign that said, "Happy Birthday, Mickey!" in different colours over the set-up stage where Selphie would be singing.

"Ew...great, now we'll get sick for more reasons than just over-eating the junk food." Iago groaned.

All of the sudden, Genie appeared out of nowhere, looking all panicked and called out through a mega-phone which scared Donald into falling down the ladder and crashing on top of Iago on the table and breaking the said table. Thankfully, no one even noticed as they were startled at Genie's appearence.

"Brace yourselves, everybody! Mickey's coming!" Genie shouted through the mega-phone.

"But we're not ready yet!" Sora moaned, disappointed.

"Genie, make the decorations and sweets disappear, quickly!" Ven cried out, hurriedly.

"Aye, aye, sir!" Genie saluted when he turned into a sailor, before using his magic to make all of the set ups for the party disappear and immediately returned the Cafeteria back to normal while everyone else quickly took seats and pretended like nothing unusual happened. Just in time too when Mickey came running in through the auto-mactic doors with Goofy and Pluto, panting and Mickey found himself a little suspicious when everyone looked rather...odd and too innocently.

"Oh, hey, Mick'." Reno greeted, before noticing that the teenaged mouse looked a bit sweaty. "What's wrong? You look like ya' just ran a marathorn or somethin'."

"Sorry, Reno. No time. I need help to find Minnie. She went into the Prompt room and got lost!" Mickey hurriedly said.

While everyone was mentally groaning at Goofy for ruining Minnie's whereabouts since Mickey wasn't supposed to know, Ven and Donald, who recovered from his fall and got off the slightly flattened Iago, stood up and hurried over to him.

"Sounds like trouble!" Ven thought, worriedly.

"Now why would she do somethin' stupid as that?" Iago asked, getting up after recovering.

"Headmasters, please, I need permission to go in there to find her. And I'll take Pluto, Genie, Ven, Donald, and Goofy with me." Mickey requested hurriedly to Eraqus, Xehanort and Ansem, ignoring Iago's annoyed question.

Pretending to look both concerned and disappointed, Ansem nodded with his fellow headmasters before saying to Mickey, "Very well, Mickey. Be sure that she is safe. We will be discussing her actions later once you retrieve her."

"Thank you, sir." Mickey bowed his respect.

"And take Mushu and Iago with you as well...just in case." Ansem quickly added.

"Yes, sir." Mickey saluted.

"Me?" Iago asked, stunned, while Donald approached him, grabbing both him and Mushu to Mickey and the others. "I'm not goin' into some storage room!"

"I'd better get m' gear for this rescue." Goofy remembered.

"Not to worry. I can help with that problem." Genie voulenteered, using magic that now made him into an explorer with an over-sized large back-pack that was the size of a car, and did the same to change Goofy's clothes into explorer's clothes and a bag that was much too big and heavy for him, but he somehow managed.

Once they were prepeared, Mickey nodded and headed back out of the Cafeteria, "C'mon, fellas. Let's get to it. Operation: Find Minnie, begins now."

As soon as Mickey, Ven, Donald, Iago, Mushu, and Goofy were out of sight(though Goofy had a bit of trouble in getting through the doors due to to his large back-pack), Genie lingered behind while using his magic to make the decorations reappear for everyone else to finish up, winking at them before zipping to catch up to the others.

"Well..." Terra began once Mickey was out of earshot, "At least it'll keep him busy from seeing the suprise."

"Yeah, but it's too bad Goofy had to spill the beans to where Minnie is, though. So that's surprise is already ruined." Cloud pointed out, rolling his eyes.

"Just hope Iago will keep his mouth shut about the party." Lea sighed, exasperated.

* * *

When they entered the Prompt Room which had a stair-case that lead downstairs into a very large room that was the size of an entire valley underneath the school and over where Arbutus lives, Mickey and his group quickly understood why students were forbidden to enter. It had so many old records from students before them with hundreds of bookselves that looked more like zillions and other things that only teachers find in here for special annual events like Christmas, Halloween and New Year's Eve.

"No wonder none of us were allowed here." Ven commented as he and his friends sticked in line while searching for Minnie, now starting to worry as well. "It's really easy to get lost."

"The best thing to do is stick together and not wander off." Mickey pointed out.

"I'd better make a note." Goofy thought to himself, pulling out a notepad and a pen, writting down self-instructions as Genie copied him as the two walked together. " _Stick together and don't wander off...always stay focused..._ "

Only to find himself alone as while he'd been writting the note and had accidently wandered off, much to his dismay. Goofy couldn't find anyone nearby, which meant only one thing.

"Gawrsh! I'm lost!" Goofy cried out, before quickly calming down and said, "Good thing Genie had me prepared."

With that, he pulled the straps of the bag forward, and the back-pack suddenly unvealed itself into an immediate camp site with a set up tent, two touches, a hammock, camping chairs, and shake in hand. Now that his 'camp site' is set up, Goofy leaped into his hammock to relax for a while.

"Now, I just need to wait to be rescued." Goofy concluded.

As it turned out, he wasn't as lost as he thought. In fact, Mickey, Donald, Ven, Genie, Iago and Mushu were only a few feet away, gazing at him with annoyed expressions. It was time like these that Goofy's dim-wittiness got on their nerves.

"Hot-dog! You found me!" Goofy cried out in relief, as Mickey and Donald both grabbed the poles that was holding the hammock and carried him with them back to Ven and the others, while he continued as though he'd really been lost, "Thought I'd never make it."

"Oh, Goofy." Ven sighed, shaking his head.

"This is gonna be a _looong_ search." Mushu groaned, facepalming himself.

"Why can't anything ever be easy?" Iago asked, gazing upward as though praying for strength. "Or even simple?"

"No complaining. We still have a damsel in distress to find!" Genie told the two firmly, turning into a Knight in shining armor, riding on a horse and sped off, hollaring, "CHAARRGE!"

Only to end up crashing right into wall that he didn't notice and comically crumbled into pieces. Much to everyone else's embarrassment. Mushu was right; this _was_ going to be a long search.

* * *

Mickey, Ven, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Genie, Iago and Mushu had been searching almost all over the place in their search for Minnie. They looked through book-shelves, behind book-shelves, climbing up top of boxes and other things to get a better view, searching along a large old history log(why it's there is beyond me), through crates, in the air, down below, and they still couldn't find her.

Minnie in the meantime, had still been searching for the perfect Birthday surprise for Mickey until finally she spotted something that seemed perfect.

A small device with colourful settings, with the words "Fireworks" on it on the front side.

"Ooh! That's perfect! It'll make a wonderful surprise for Mickey." Minnie said to herself happily, making her way towards it and with the push of the remote botton, the fireworks immediately lit up and let off colourful display above her while it didn't even touch the ceiling, so it was safe even in here.

Little did she know, Mickey himself was closer than she knew.

* * *

"Ooh! Where is she?" Donald groaned.

"Gee, she sure is good in getting lost." Genie commented.

"We'll never find her at this rate. Can't we just go back before _we_ end up getting lost?" Iago complained.

"Keep looking." Ven told them.

As Mickey looked ahead, familiar flashes of colourful lights were lighting up in a short distance, which made him realise what they were, and relief and hope immediately lit up in his heart.

"Look! Fireworks! It's gotta be her!" Mickey proclaimed, believing that Minnie was using the Fireworks for a help signal. Without waiting for the others, Mickey immediately raced ahead with both Ven and Pluto following seconds behind, unaware that everyone else didn't hear him and just...wandered off.

* * *

Back with Minnie, she turned off the Fireworks set and smiled to herself. "This'll be perfect for the surprise tonight. Mickey'll love it." She muttered.

"Minnie!"

Speak of the devil.

Surprised herself, Minnie turned to see a very relieved Mickey who came up to her and hugged her in his arms, with Ven and Pluto joining him.

"Mickey? H-How'd you find me?" Minnie asked, stunned that Mickey even knew she was here as he let her go, still smiling in relief.

"Saw the Fireworks that led us to ya'." Mickey answered.

"Y-Y-You saw the Fireworks?" Minnie asked, quickly becoming disappointed and saddened.

"Yup. Follow them all the way here." Mickey nodded.

Ven, remembering how all of this happened, sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, saying, "Sorry, Minnie. Goofy made the slip and told Mickey where you were."

"Oh. Now the Birthday Surprise is ruined." Minnie sighed, feeling sad and guilty.

While Mickey was a little surprised and a bit disappointed, he dismissed that and had already decided since her disappearence was much more important to him than his birthday. "Oh. Well, the important thing is that you're not lost anymore."

"Lost?" Minnie asked, confused. "I wasn't lost."

"You weren't?" Mickey asked, now even more confused and surprised.

"Uh-oh. I know where this is gonna go." Ven muttered, worriedly. Pluto nodded in agreement.

"Mickey Mouse. Did you really think I'd come here just to get myself lost?" Minnie scolded now that she knew the situation and glared at her boyfriend in annoyance. As much as she loved him, sometimes his naiveness made her annoyed.

Realising that he's in a bit of trouble, Mickey sheepishly replied, "No. Yes-uh, uh, no. I-I mean..."

"Hmph. Well, I certainly hope not." Minnie responded.

"Well, I say that we head back up before the others worry about where we are." Ven suggested, turning to face the others, "Let's head back guys...guys?" only to realise that they were not there. Mickey's eyes widened as well as new worry came.

"Um, Mickey? Who's Ven talking to?" Minnie asked, puzzled.

"Donald, Goofy, Genie, Iago and Mushu." Mickey answered, "They were right behind us."

Minnie gasped, now worriedly. "And now they're...?"

"Ha-ha...Lost?" Mickey laughed nervously with a shrug.

Here we go again.

* * *

"Marco!" Goofy hollared as he and the others except for Iago who was standing on a shelf.

"Hello!" Mushu called.

"Yo-ho!" Genie hollared.

"Hello!" Donald called.

Iago groaned, knowing the full concept of the situation and cried out in annoyed dismay, "We are _so_ lost!"

And they even had Genie with them, for crying out loud!

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Cafeteria, everything was up and ready, and now everyone else were waiting for Mickey to arrive to surprise him a welcoming Happy Birthday, when they spotted someone whom they thought was Mickey and...

"SURPRISE!" Everyone jumped out, cheering, only for that cheer to die down when it wasn't who they thought it was.

"...What in Leviathan's name happened?" Tseng asked, as he had arrived after the Headmasters gave Elena and Reno permission to invite the Wutaiian for the party. Veld was invited too, but unfortunately, he had to be guard duty for the President today. And the moment Tseng had walked in, he was nearly given a heart attack.

"...Sorry, Boss." Reno sheepishly replied.

"False alarm, people." Jecht sighed, disappointed.

"Ah...the traditional surprise." Tseng nodded, just as he heard the doors open behind him. "I think he's here."

The moment the Turk stepped aside, Mickey, Minnie, Ven and Pluto, who had found Genie, Donald, Goofy, Iago and Mushu who were with them, had just stepped in and while most of the others tried not to look disappointed, Mickey, who had figured it out the moment they heard what happened, just felt embarrassed.

"Uh, surprise?" Mickey shrugged, sheepishly.

Seeing that Mickey was here, everyone immediately cheered once more. "SURPRISE! Happy Birthday, Mickey!" as they all gathered arond the birthday mouse who smiled and blushed.

Even though it wasn't much a surprise, Mickey still was surprised and he loved surprise parties. "Ha-ha! Aw, gosh. Thanks, everybody!" He said, happily.

Despite the mishaps at the start of the day, Mickey utterly enjoyed the birthday party everyone had set up for him, and was even more happy that they all enjoyed it as well, and it was all in the effort to make him happy. After the party which had games, food, cake, Selphie's singing and of course, Presents, they all watched as Minnie set the Fireworks she brought with them and happily watched the colourful display in the sky when the sun at set.

"Oh, Mickey. I'm sorry that today wasn't as surprising as we had planned." Minnie said as she and Mickey stood side by side.

"Aw, it's okay, Minnie. It's the best birthday I've ever had, and I'm just glad that things turned out just fine." Mickey said, smiling at his girlfriend, placing an arm around her shoulders. "It's even more perfect to watch the fireworks with you. One of my favorite moments to share with my gal'."

"Oh, Mickey." Minnie giggled, before she and Mickey shared a kiss.

Which was witnessed by Iago, Lea and Isa, with the former groaning.

"He even had to have a birthday kiss on top of everything else." Iago was complaining, which fortunately, Mickey and Minnie didn't hear. "What's next, a Birthday Wedding?"

Isa responded by taking off his party hat and shoved on top of Iago's head which he made it get stuck on purpose. "You whine too much, bird." The blue-haired teenager muttered.

"You just read my mind, man." Lea smirked, chuckling at Iag's futile attempt to get it off.

"Hey! Where is everyone?" Iago called out, while his voice was muffled due to having a party hat stuck on his head, which he tried and failed miserably to pull off. "Hello? Anybody?"

To his dismay, no one borthered in helping him just yet.

All in all, it was a great birthday and Mickey enjoyed every moment of it.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: That's episode 1 here! Sorry that it's not all that exciting, but I couldn't figure out how to start off without things being too dramatic, especially after the battle against Hades and Chernabog at the end of Season 2. I'll try and update this as soon as possible, while I work on my other stories at the same time.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	2. EP2: Journey to the Center of Donald

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: I may not be in America, but I am horrified by the power Hurricane Irma and the devastation it's left. I feel for those who lost loved ones in the Caribbean and hope and pray to those in Florida to remain safe and out of the Hurriance's path.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 2: Journey to the Center of Donald.

"Bonjour, and welcome to Paris!" A tour guide greeted in a half-heavy French accent the moment Mr. Braska and the students with him, Ven, Mickey, Goofy, Reno, Lea, Elena, Melody, and a rather redish-pink billed Donald with puffy eyes boarded off the plane and entered the Frence Airport for a special school field trip on an assignment to visit Paris's most famous buildings and such, like the Effel Tower, Nortre Dame, ect.,. Iago and Mushu, along with Genie in the Lamp, were hidden in Ven's backpack since they tagged along for the ride.

"I take you have reservations to Euro-Hotel halfway across our city of Love!" The tour guide continued enthusiastically.

"Indeed. It will be under Braska." Braska nodded to confirm it, just as Donald felt a sneeze coming on and quickly covered his bill with a hanky to muffle his sneeze.

"You know, Donald. Maybe you should'a stayed home, 'cause I think you've got a cold." Mickey whispered worriedly to his best friend. It started out just fine this morning, but on their way to Midgar Airport, Donald seemed to look...slightly ill, and it's only gotten worse during the airplane trip to the French Continent.

Donald shook his head, saying, "I'm fine. I'm not missing out on-Wak!"

He was cut off when Arlene, who also tagged along for the trip, pushed him and pretty much everyone else except for Braska and the tour guide over and horried over to the exit to the buss.

"Outta the way! The most fabulous and prettiest girl in this group gets the front seat!" Arlene said grinning away.

"So why is _she_ in such a hurry?" Reno groaned, exasperated as he, his cousin and their friends followed Braska to the blue tour bus that would take them to their hotel room for a week.

Lea shook his head, "Seriously, if she thinks she's gonna get herself a boyfriend here in France, she's in for a real shock." before grinning, "By the way, any chances of being able to see the real Hunchback guy?"

"Nah, not on your life." Reno rolled his eyes.

* * *

By the time everyone reached the hotel and gotten themselves settled, Braska had informed them that they would be ending out to explore the city tomorrow so in the meantime the students had some free time to settle in for the rest of the day. Arlene was already out doing fun shopping for stylish clothes and fashion.

"City of Love?" Iago grumbled as he gazed out through the window of the luxuary room of the hotel. "I'm stuck in a huge town where everybody goes all lovy dovy! How can they do that 24/7? It's disgusting!"

"You never found anyone that had your interest before?" Elena asked, shaking her head as she felt an upcoming headache coming along due to the red parrot's constant whining.

"Me...well..." Iago thought, before shrugging, "Nope. Not a single one."

Lea snorted, "Yeah, you're right. Your love is towards money."

"You know, Iago. Maybe someday you might find somebody that'll capture your heart." Ven said with a grin, "And I wanna be there to see that moment."

"Me?" Iago asked, having a thought about it. Maybe it was about time to get himself a-he immediately caught that thought off as the very idea of having a girlfriend in his life is a completely waste of time. He waved it off, "Nah!"

Melody giggled, "I think I'd be more worried that a female parrot would come at him and claim him as his own against his will."

"Lemme guess; you had that kind of problem in the ocean, did you?" Reno inquired with a smirk.

"No. But Sebastian did at the El-ectric City, where a girl Crab got him and another friend on the dance floor two years back." The half-mermaid-half-human answered.

* * *

 _Flash-Back:_

 _In an ship-wreck ship that was used as a party club, Melody had followed Sebastian and a yellow and blue fish as all three of them entered the club to find their red-haired mermaid friend Ariel, her sister Alana and their friend Pearl._

 _"Those guys look kinda scary." Melody whispered._

 _"You're right." Sebastian nodded in agreement, eying the shark-teethed merman who just practically screamed 'trouble' by the way he grinned like a shark. "We gotta get Ariel and Alana outta here-Whoa!"_

 _The red crab was pulled to the dance floor by a female pink crab with blonde hair and red lip stick, and while Sebastian tried to pull himself free, he was spun around in many different ways in a rather dramatic dance style that was making his legs hurt and his stomach lurch._

 _"Hey, cutie!" A female yellow and blue fish with a pink bow suddenly appeared next to the male boy yellow and blue fish who was startled before she happily spun around and around with him._

 _"Melody! Sebastian!" The boy fish cried out._

 _"Uh...which one should I help first?" Melody asked herself, now having to try and save all three of her friends, but was a bit stuck herself, before she ended up giggling when the dance moves both Sebastian and the boy fish were getting faster and faster._

 _"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!" Sebastian cried out, "Hey! Stop!" before he was spun rapidly on the dance floor once more, screaming hysterically, "AHHHH!"_

 _"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" The boy fish screamed as he was getting increasingly more and more dizzy as the merry-go-round-dance was getting faster and faster._

* * *

End of flash-back.

The boys stared at Melody with slightly frightened looks...except for Goofy and Donald, who were probably sleeping.

"I'm surprised both of them managed to survive that. What kind of crazy girls were they?" Mushu asked.

"The crazy kind." Lea weakly joked.

"El-ectric City? What kind of name is that?" Iago asked, dumbfounded.

"Aw, relax, fellas. This is Paris, and we're on a school assignment. I'm sure there won't be any kind of crazy things happening while we're here." Mickey said as he gazed out at the window, looking over the city as the Effel Tower could be seen from the distance.

Just then, Goofy came through one of the guest bedroom doors, calling out with concern, "Something's wrong with Donald!"

"...Though I've been wrong before." Mickey muttered, cringing.

* * *

"Ah-Ah-Achoo!" Donald sneezed as he layed weakly in bed. He had a hot water bottle on his head, his eyes were still puffy, and he also had a thermometer which Genie had to recatch for the third time in a row, as the latter had turned into a doctor. Ven, Lea, Reno, Melody, Mickey, Iago, Elena, Goofy and Mushu all gathered around.

"Hmmm...High fever at...a hundred and thirteen!?" Genie's eyes comically bulged out in complete shock which nearly came right out of his head in doing so.

"113!? You can't be serious." Reno shook his head in disbelief. "That's not normal."

"Oh, I knew you should've stayed home, pal." Mickey sighed in sympathy as he rubbed his sick friend's head, which the teenage duck's forehead was unbelievably hot.

"Well, looks like you'll be missing out on this whole trip and have to wait here until we get back home." Ven sighed, feeling sorry for Donald as well.

Mushu frowned in concern, "I dunno, Ven. A tempreture as high is this, I don't think we should just simply ignore it as a simple cold or even a flu."

"Let's hope it's not contagious, because I don't wanna get sick too." Iago muttered, edging away as far as possible.

"Maybe we should tell Mr. Braska about this and call the doctor." Elena suggested.

"Nah, too long. Mushu's right. This ain't a normal cold or flu." Lea shook his head, his arms folded to his chest. "Besides which, he once said that he had chicken pox when he was a lot younger."

"Are you feeling, Donald?" Melody asked gently.

"Too si-Ah-ah-Achoo!" Donald sneezed again, sniffling, "-Sick. I've got a headache, stomach ache and my eyes hurt too."

"When did this happen?" Mushu shrugged.

Mickey frowned in concern, before answering for his sick friend, "I think it started on the bus on our way to Midgar Airport. He was fine this morning back at home."

"All I did was yawn that time too." Donald admitted, before looking vaguely confused, "I think I mighta accidently swallowed a fly when that happened too." recalling how an annoying fly was in the bus and thought he got rid of it when as he yawned, something got caught in his throat.

To make sure this may be the cause, Genie magically pulled out an X-Ray sheet, pulling away the quilt covers before holding the sheet over Donald's body, which also showed his heart and stomach. In the stomach area, it was empty. But what Genie and the others saw concerned them greatly; something about the size of a fly was...travelling all over his body. Right now, it was in his throat, trailling upward until Genie had to shift the sheet to Donald's head, and everyone saw the small dot slowly going up to his head.

"...Doesn't look like a fly to me." Goofy thought.

Genie instantly turned himself into a police officer in response to this, declaring, "We have ourselves a crime scene, boys and ladies! That little parasite is the culprit!"

"So the more it travellers, the worse Donald's gonna get!" Mickey said worriedly.

"How worse are we talkin'?" Lea asked, getting more and more worried.

Genie by then turned into a minster of the church, saying glumly, "Unless it is gotten rid of...poor Donald Duck will be lifted to the heavens above to rest in peace."

Donald's eyes widened in sheer horror at the knowlage that he'll die if the whatever it was that he accidently swallowed was slowly killing him, and screamed loudly, "AAAAAHHHHH!"

Until Genie turned back and grinned sheepishly, "Nah, just kidding. It'll only just put you to sleep forever unless we get rid of it, but it won't certainly kill you."

"Phew...WHAT!? I'm gonna be sleeping forever!? WAAAAK!" Donald screamed once more, after a very brief moment of pause.

"Isn't there anything we can do to stop it from happening?" Ven demanded worriedly.

Mickey by then gently hugged their friend's head, saying desperatedly, "Aw, I wish we can somehow go into his body and stop that bug ourselves."

Hearing what Mickey just said instantly filled an idea into most of the group's minds, especially since Genie leaned close to the teenage mouse, asking as his made his left ear grow two times bigger, asking, "Did I hear a wish?"

"...Mickey, I think you just gave us an idea." Ven muttered.

"Wait a minute..." Mickey muttered as he let go of Donald. "I think you're right, Ven."

A moment of pause.

"I've got it!" Mickey exclaimed with a smile, "Some of us can go in there and find that parasite and put a stop of it to save Donald!...Though, I guess that would mean shrinking down to the size of a speck of dust."

"Seriously?" Reno cringed, disgusted. "No way. I'm not gonna go inside Don's body. Bad enough we all had to learn about the body parts in science class. I mean' come on, let's be serious here."

"Well, if Merlin the all mighty Wizard from the Dark Ages can make a disese to make the evil witch Madam Mim sick, we of the modern Bright Ages can create a cure to make our buddy Donald all better!" Genie said noblely.

"Genie's right. Besides, this is Donald who's in trouble here. Even though the idea itself is creepy, I'm gonna help, whatever it takes." Ven declared with determination.

"I'll go too." Mickey voulenteered.

"Hold your horses, fellas. Allow me to look for an entrance first, because we don't want to run the risk of having to be swallow up the old fashioned way, now do we?" Genie advised.

Before he allowed the others could answer, Genie magically shrunk himself so tiny that the others almost couldn't see him if it wasn't that they saw a small blue Genie the size of a fly zip down towards Donald's head. First the magically went to the ear holes, but found that the feathers were in the way. Next he went up to Donald's bill where two nose holes were and found that it was clear; surprisingly all clean.

Growing back to normal, Genie informed them, "Well, the good news is, I found the other enterance. Bad news is, it's through there, but at least surprisingly there's not a sign of mucas."

"Eww!" Melody and Elena both groaned in disgust.

"This is gonna be a total reverse of that stupid TV show where a wacky inventor, his wife and daughter ended up swallowed by their grandpa." Lea groaned, equally grossed out.(1)

"At least we'll have Genie with us." Mickey pointed out with a shrug.

"Yeah, but it'll be a one way trip." Iago said, landing on Mickey's shoulder, worriedly.

"Saddle up, boys! It's a journey to the Center of Donald!" Genie declared, already using his magic to zap himself, Ven, Mickey and even Iago who realised too late that he was quickly being taken along for the ride.

"H-hey! I didn't voulenteer!" Iago protested, but by then he and three of his friends were already shrunk down to size and zoomed right into the left nostril of Donald's bill, while the teenaged duck flinched at the force of the impact, that it felt strange.

The rest of the group cringed, while Goofy muttered, saying to the readers/viewers while accidently breaking the fourth wall, "Looks like Donald was sneezing backwards. Ay-yhuck!"

This resulted Lea, Reno and Mushu to all groan in exasperation before facepalming themselves on the head and both Melody and Elena shared a concerned and annoyed looks.

All they and Donald could do now was wait.

* * *

"Why was I dragged into this!?" Iago screamed out as Genie had called up Reddy who also magically shrunk down so that they, Ven and Mickey were flying on it through the nose and into the veins system of Donald's body.

The organism tunnels connected to the body was all red and fleshy the further in Ven and his friends went after Genie shrunk them down to size. Genie also provided a flash-light so that they could see where they were going. It was nothing like either of them imagined of being inside a body of flesh, and it was nerve-wrecking, amazing and scary.

"Gee, it's kinda like a cave tunnel in here. Only slimy and sticker." Mickey commented. He had known this to be scary, but it was far from what he'd been expecting.

"Genie, do you have any idea where we're headed and where the parasite is?" Ven asked.

Genie magically materialized a seemingly high-tech map with a radar, studying it and there are two moving dots with a digital image of Donald; one that is red which is now between Donald's eyes, and one that is halfway behind it that is green.

"This is where we are." Genie explained, pointing at the green dot, before pointing at the red dot, saying, "And this is where that fiesty parasite is."

Iago rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, real smooth, Einstein. We'll never get there to his brain!"

"Not unless we go faster!" Mickey suggested with determination. Whatever this parasite was, it wasn't going to further hurt his friend and get away with it.

"Whoa, hold up!" Ven suddenly cried out, tugging Reddy to pull to a stop which nearly made everyone fall off.

In front of them was a sticky fleshy web that blocked their way through towards a fork in the road in the two vein tunnels. It looked like it was sticked on like glue and in retrospect, it was pretty disgusting. Ven, Mickey and Genie stood off the red carpet and inched a bit closer to it, while Iago flew over, examining it.

"Ugh...whoever the bug is might as well be a spider that makes webs like this." The parrot muttered, feeling nauses in the stomach.

"There's gotta a way to get through this mess." Mickey thought, though he didn't touch it as he was worried something might happen if he did.

"Stand back, boys. I'll shred through this like a tree!" Genie declared, before turning into a construction worker with a chainsaw that buzzed to life, preparing to cut their way through the web to make a free path.

"Genie, don't!" Ven cried out as he, Mickey and Iago quickly restrained their friend to stop him from doing anything stupid.

"If you do that, you might end up hurtin' Donald!" Mickey added.

"And that'll only make things worse!" Iago continued, while shrieking as the chainsaw came an inch close to shredding his feathers off his body.

Realising that they were right, Genie turned back and made the chainsaw disappear, flinching, "Sorry. Didn't think about that."

Iago slapped himself on the head, "That's because the rest of us have something you don't; a brain!"

"If only we can just cut our way through without hurting Donald or making things worse." Ven muttered, trying to think of another idea to get through as they were running short on time.

Suddenly, as though grunting his mental wish, a green sparkle appeared on the teenage boy's hand before right before his and everyone else's eyes, the Emerald Sword materialized in his grip, and it was also glowing slightly.

"The Emerald Sword?" Ven muttered, surprised.

"Haven't seen that in a while." Mickey admitted, as it was now one and half months since Hades and Chernabog were defeated.

"You're not gonna do what I think you're gonna do, are you, Ven?" Iago asked, worriedly.

"...I'm not sure what caused it to appear all of the sudden." Ven shrugged, randomly gazing at it, before approaching the web which, as he got up close, suddenly glowed in red and the glow on the sword grew a bit brighter. "Unless..."

Despite the worried gasps from three of his friends, Ven thrusted the sword at the web, which instantly disappeared upon contact and the blockage of the pathway vanished. Ven, Mickey, Genie and Iago and even Reddy were amazed by this display.

"Well...that's one way to do it." Ven admitted, mentally thanking the very weapon that helped him and his friends to save the world almost two months ago.

Nodding, the teenager turned to his friends and said, "Lets go! We still have to save Donald from the parasite!"

Despite the confusion, Mickey and Genie agreed while Iago shivered, not looking forward in battling a nasty flu bug to save Donald.

* * *

Thanks to Genie's magic in making them go faster, the group finally reached the main point where the parasite was just one second behind. Ven and his friends found themselves in a large chamber like area which they realised, with a giant brain in the middle of it connected by organ wires connecting to the walls of the head, they were in Donald's head.

"So this is what the inside of the head looks like." Mickey commented, glancing around the seemingly tree-like head of their friend.

"Ooh...this is more gross than I thought." Genie muttered, shivering.

Iago likewise groaned in disgust, "This is starting to give me a headache."

"But where's the parasite?" Ven asked, not seeing any signs of the parasite at all.

"Interesting...a boy and a mouse with a talking parrot, a blue man and a flying carpet. How typical." An unfamiliar voice spoke from the the right.

Ven, Mickey, Genie, Iago and Reddy quickly glanced into that direction and were quite shocked and surprised that there was not a fly like they expected, but a man, close to his sixties, with black greying hair tied up in a ponytail, dark brown eyes, wrinkles on his face, a white lab coat with a grey shirt and black pants underneath with leather shoes. Behind him was a round machine that looked like a submarine with wings. There was also some sort of device panel on the side of the machine as well. The front of it had an orb like capsle.

"Who are you?" Ven demanded, glaring at the man who obviously was an mad scientest. Mickey, Iago and Genie likewise glared at the intruder of Donald's body.

"Silence, boy! I'm the one who should be asking that question." The mad scientest yelled. He then sighed before continuing, more calmder this time, "But if you must know, I am Professor Hojo."

"Terrific. A mad scientest. That's all we need." Iago groaned in dismay.

"Not quite." Hojo grinned evilly, that sent chills down everyone's spines. "It's my experiment to infiltrate the body of lifeforms to create a new parasite in my ultimate goal to cause mass destruction through out the world. The idea was given to me by others, including Hades before he was banished. By doing so, I used this shrinking machine to do so, to put all life into a never ending sleep to leave the planet empty and to writher away."

"So it's you who's causin' Donald to get sick!" Mickey grunted angrily.

"That's just downright cold and low." Ven added, furious that a mad scientest like Hojo would do such a thing, and to think that Donald may be the man's first victum.

"Was the world given a choice to do what they want? This young specimen is perfect. Once I shut down his mind, it will give me full control over it's body to follow the movement of my mind." Hojo continued, not fazed by the anger of the others.

"I think you've been watching too many horror movies as a kid, pal." Iago stated, scaredly.

"Donald's not your specimen! He's our friend and a school student!" Ven yelled at the scientest, ignoring Iago's comment.

Hojo just laughed as though he found the teenager's anger to be amusing. "Your words mean nothing, boy. You're just a child who probably couldn't even cure a cold!"

Genie cracked his fingers and knuckles as he angrily said, "Then perhaps the only way to solve this problem is the semi-phenomenal, nearly-cosmic power!"

He then turned himself into a ninja with hundreds of mini-shurikens and knifes, preparing himself into a fighting stance while Ven and Mickey also stood in fighting stances to face off the evil scientest, while Iago gulped, looking around for a place to hide before shivering.

"Uh...I think I'll leave it to you guys." Iago muttered before running away, hiding back into the tunnel where he and the others came from.

"So, you have a genie. Very fasinating." Hojo grinned, before pulling out a remote from his coat pocket and said, "But I'm afraid it will not help you, children." pushing a red botton on it.

The second he did, the machine behind him suddenly extended mechanical arms, which then reached out and instantly grabbed hold of both Ven and Mickey who cried out in alarm when they were grasped in it's large mechanical hands, rendering them trapped and struggling to break free from the machine's grasp.

"Let us go!" Mickey cried out as the teenage mouse wriggled and squirmed to pull himself free.

"Only until after I shrink you both. Unless your Genie friend would be kind enough to help me get this miniture ship out of this bottle." Hojo replied while reaching into the other coat pocket and pulled out a crystal clear glass bottle with a pirate ship model inside it, pulling off it's cork.

"Only way to save my friends!" Genie muttered quickly, turning back to normal, zooming in to do as the evil doctor did in order to free Ven and Mickey...

Only for Hojo to slam the cork back into place and trapping Genie inside, laughing manically, much to Ven and Mickey's horror.

"Genie!" Ven and Mickey screamed out, horrified.

Trapped inside the bottle, Genie realised his grave mistake and grunted at his own idiocity, "Oh, I should've known this bad guy would've tricked me into this!"

"You see how you're all helpless and naive? The only true living one to be born and live here is me! The rest of you are all my experiment subjects!" Hojo declared evilly in his victory, placing the bottle on the ground, before moving up to the machine to begin typing down the panel.

Ven and Mickey could only glance at each other in horror and worry, dismayed that they and Genie had been unable to stop the evil scientest who caught them off-guard and Iago was hiding, so he was useless. It seemed that all was lost for them and Donald would end up sleeping forever, and so would the rest of the world.

* * *

"Ooh...It's getting worse..." Donald groaned, sleepily as he struggled to stay awake.

It's been at least 20 minutes since Ven, Mickey, Genie and Iago went inside Donald's body, and it seemed like nothing was happening. Lea, Reno, Melody, Elena, Mushu and Goofy waited anixiously for their friends to return, though that hope was fading ever so slightly, making them fearing for the worst. What if this parasite was more deadly than anyone imagined and the friends had perished and soon Donald would fall under a deep sleep forever? How can they explain this to Braska, Arlene and everyone else back in Radiant City?

"I guess the next best thing we can do is give ya a panadol or somethin' to make your head a bit clear." Lea sighed.

"But what if it kills Ven, Mickey, Iago and Genie if we do that?" Elena pointed out, worriedly.

Reno sighed, leaning back in the chair and stared up at the ceiling, "She has a point, cos'. Besides, none of us can get into Donald's body without magic or some shrinking ray like in the movies."

"Maybe it's just a delay. These things do take time." Mushu said as he paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, though the more time went on, the more he was slowly breaking down.

Melody in the meantime was keeping Donald's head cool by drapping a cold wet cloth on his forehead, and at the same time using another wet cold cloth to wipe his face to try and keep his tempreture down.

She leaned forward and whispered close to the place where his earholes were, "Hang in there, Donald. And Ven, you and the guys better hurry."

Melody and the others were unaware at the moment of what was really doing on in Donald's head.

* * *

Back inside Donald's head, it was getting close to ten minutes since Hojo captured Ven, Mickey and Genie and was still typing away on the panel, and Iago, who saw what just happened, silently made his way to his friends to see if maybe he can do something to rescue them, when an echoing voice filled up the entire brain chamber.

" _Hang in there, Donald. And Ven, you and the guys better hurry._ " The familiar young girl's voice said.

"Oh, for...so you didn't come alone in the outside world, did you?" Hojo grunted, as the noise of the voice was distrupting his work.

"It's Melody...!" Ven realised, recongising the voice.

"This is wrecking my work! I need to do something about this." Hojo continued on, not hearing what Ven had just said.

Seeing him distracted, Iago then had an idea and flew up to the two captured teenagers before whispering to Mickey who's eyes widened slightly before nodding, as he whispered, "Gotcha." with a wink.

"Say, uh, Professor." Mickey called up to the scientest.

Groaning, Hojo turned to the teenaged mouse, asking, "What do you want?"

"I was just wonderin'...how do you get that ship into the bottle?" Mickey asked as innocently as he could be.

"Hmmm...well, it's quite simple, actually." Hojo replied after a moment, before approaching the bottle, moving to remove the cork to demostrate, "You do not build the ship and then put it into the bottle. You build it inside and then-"

But as he pulled out the cork, Hojo was shocked as Genie came zooming out, growing to the group's current size and loomed over the scientest who realised too late that it had been a trick just to get Genie free.

"Tch...! I should have known these fools would have tricked me into this!" Hojo growled at his own stupidity.

To make things worse for him, Iago had the time to sneak away the remote from him and pushed the red botton, which caused the machine to reverse it's command and released both Ven and Mickey who landed on the floor softly before all four of them and Reddy who had been rendered powerless, glared at Hojo, ready to stop him this time. Mickey then took the remote from Iago and pushed the botton again, this time the machine grabbing the evil scientest who grunted angrily when his own invention was now used against him.

"That'll teach ya' for messing with us!" Mickey said.

"You think this is over?" Hojo asked, suddenly grinning once more.

To the group's shock, the light on the remote Mickey was holding suddenly went dead, and as though under the scientest's command, Hojo was then placed into the cockpit of the machine at the driver's seat, while the panel closed up.

"I may have failed to control the specimen's mind, but I can still put him to sleep in his heart!" Hojo declared evilly, as he controlled the machine to over by powering up the engines and then without waiting flew off into the tunnels where Ven and the others had came from earlier.

"We have to stop him!" Ven shouted, quickly jumping onto Reddy with Mickey, Iago and Genie who turned into a power-rocket.

"Hold on, fellas! This is going to be a bumpy ride!" Genie told his friends, blasting off with the others to quickly hurry after the evil scientest to stop him from placing Donald under a permament sleep.

It didn't take them long to find Hojo who realised he was already caught up by the annoying group. As he attempted to stop them by using his machine's panel from the inside to block the way, the group had got so close that Ven and Mickey both immediately jumped on top of the machine from Reddy, which caused the entire thing to jolt out of control and as Ven summoned the Emerald Sword to slash at the top part of it, it cause it to spark with electricity for a second or two.

Mickey then wrenched open the panel on top of it, and while he had no idea what would happen if he pulled out the wirings from it, he glanced at Ven who hesitatedly nodded. Mickey then grabbed hold of the wires and with Ven's help, pulled until it came loose, nearly knocking the two teenagers of Radiant Academy off, but the two managed to cling on for dear life.

"Insolant fools! Look at what you've done!" Hojo shouted in fury as he was losing control over the machine, which was then drifted off course down to a tunnel to the left rather than the right as he had hoped.

"Where're they goin'!?" Iago screamed out, worriedly.

"Oh no!" Genie exclaimed as he, Iago and Reddy followed the others while he read the map from earlier, the two dots going right down towards... "They're headed right towards Donald's stomach!"

"Awk!" Iago cried out, horrified. "Well, don't just sit there! Save them before they become Quackenpoker's early dinner!"

Genie was already making Reddy go faster and Iago had to cling onto the edge of the carpet, screaming his head off as the parrot realised they were heading straight towards Donald's throat as well and screamed louder in horror.

Ven and Mickey both clinged onto the machine for dear life as they and Hojo were now plummeting dangerously down the veins tunnel. Unfortunately, the machine had long shut down and was now falling. To make things worse, the three of them recongised a familiar blob that hanged over a tunnel of darkness and another hole where light was coming from.

The two students screamed and shut their eyes to brace themselves for their end to end up trapped where they and Hojo realised was Donald's stomach. However, just as they passed the throat, their descent was suddenly stopped when a metal rope was chained around the machine and as Ven and Mickey looked up, they sighed in relief as it was Genie who turned into a small aircraft with chains and hooks, hovering while Reddy and Iago hovered down to their friends.

"Thanks, Genie." Ven sighed as he and Mickey both climbed onto Reddy with Iago.

"Gosh, for a second there, I thought we were goners." Mickey said, chuckling weakly.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We still have to get outta here and we can't go through there because Quackenpoker's mouth is closed!" Iago pointed out, pointing at the mouth in front of all of them.

"I think I have another idea." Genie said, thoughtfully.

Just then, they noticed that the mouth opened up.

"Oh, never mind." Genie shrugged, quickly holding onto everyone and the machine before zooming out as quickly as possible before Donald would close his mouth again.

* * *

None of them knew what was happening, but after 35 minutes, everyone in the room finally noticed the difference. The illness was fading from Donald's face and soon enough, his eyes and bill had returned to normal.

"Hey...Wak!" Donald didn't have time to say anything as while he felt back to normal, the moment he opened his mouth the second time, a few tiny fly-sized things suddenly flew out of his bill, startling him and the others who leaned back slightly.

The group watched as the tiny things sparked in magic, before they suddenly glowed and in the middle of the room between the bed and door, appeared Ven, Mickey, Iago, Reddy, Genie, and both Hojo and his machine appeared, back in their normal size.

"Whoops, almost forgot something." Genie quickly remembered, using his magic to re-shrink the machine before throwing it onto the floor and magically pulled out a fly-swatter, slamming the now destroyed machine flat like a fly.

"Whoa! Where'd you guys come from?" Reno asked, wide-eyed.

"And who's this guy?" Mushu added, gesturing at Hojo who attempted to run, but Genie had already tied him up in ropes and chains with magic.

"The one who caused Donald to get sick in the first place." Ven added, relieved that things were back to normal again.

"What!?" Donald exclaimed when he and the others heard this, before he leaped out of bed, back to normal himself as he threw a temper tantrum by thrusting his fists in the air at the evil and captured scientest. "Why you little...!"

Mickey hurried over to his friend and held him back by the arms, "Donald...It's okay. He won't hurt ya' anymore! I promise!" before hugging him tightly in relief to have one of his best friends back.

"I'll get you all for this, insolant children!" Hojo grunted angrily as he glared at the teenagers and such with hatred.

* * *

After they called the French Authorities to lock up Hojo and told Braska and their friends of what happened, Ven and the others got to relax a little, though Donald was told to take it easy for the next couple of days.

"So...how ya' feelin'?" Lea asked five hours later.

"I've never been better." Donald replied, before gazing at Ven, Mickey, Genie and Iago, saying, somewhat emotionally, "Aw...thanks for saving me. I'm sorry you had to go and do that."

Mickey smiled before hugging him again and replied, "Aw, you don't have to apologuise, pal. It wasn't your fault that Hojo did what he did."

He then gazed at Iago and added, "Besides, it was Iago who saved us when we were caught."

"If it weren't for Iago, I don't think we would've been able to escape from Hojo's clutches." Ven added, ruffing at the top of the parrot's head.

"Hey, watch it! I-I..." Iago began, before realising what his friends meant and said, surprised and touched, "Hey...that's the nicest compliment anybody's ever gave me."

"So uh...what was the inside of Donald's head like?" Mushu asked after a moment of pause.

Ven, Mickey, Iago and even Genie all groaned, shuddering, while Donald rolled his eyes, and Lea, Reno, Goofy, Melody and Elena shared disturbed glances, not sure if they wanted to know or not.

"Well...I think it's best that ya' don't wanna know, Mushu." Mickey replied.

Goofy blinked, before shrugging as he said to the readers/viewers, once again breaking the fourth wall, "I'd say the inside of a body is nothin' anybody would wanna see in person. Ay-yhuck!"

Even though the group knew that the French Authorities were nothing like ShinRa Company who can keep criminials from ever escaping and Ven was worried that Hojo might escape and plot more plans, at least things were back to normal for now.

Who knows when and where the next adventure would happen in their world.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: (1)Lea's comment is from the first episode of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" series with the episode titled "Honey, We've been Swallowed by Grandpa"...which he wasn't completley wrong.**

 **This was based on one of the 2013 Mickey Mouse series which I never watched, but the trailer I saw by accident of the episode "Down the Hatch". The Disney characters(Mickey, Donald, Goofy, ect) are however modelized from 1999/2000 and in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.**

 **See you in the next chapter when I update this as soon as possible!**


	3. Episode 3: Night of the Dead

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Yes, it is one month early before Halloween, I couldn't think of anything else at the moment. This is based on the Halloween episode of Lizzie Mcquire.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 3: Night of the Dead.

It was the time of year again; Halloween. This year most of the students were doing a halloween party at Radiant Academy while the younger children were going Trick-or-Treating. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Tidus, Yuna, Yuffie, and their new best friends Roxas, Xion and Namine were already dressing up in varities of costumes as Clarabelle would be taking them for trick-or-treating this year. Huey, Dewey and Louie in the meantime, were making plans on how this year's trick-or-treating by having made their own blueprint.

"As soon as we're done here, we sneak around to the opposite end instead of doing the usual route." Huey was saying to his brothers who snickered at this idea.

"Why don't you boys go as trolls this year? That'll scare everybody." Donald spoke up as soon as he walked into the student's lounge, going over to the fridge for something to eat.

"Actually, we were gonna go as the Zombies, but you're already wearing the costume, Unca' Donald." Dewey teased, sharing a laughing high-five with Huey and Louie who applauded him, while Donald gave his three nephews a glare before turning to the fridge, pretending that he didn't hear that.

By then, Ansem and Eraqus walked in, having a conversation which was cut short when the triplets rushed over, bowing their respects to the headmasters before Louie inquired, "Excuse us, Headmasters. Can we burrow the wheelburrow for Trick or Treating this year?"

"You won't be needing that because, you three are not going." Eraqus replied, much to the shock and dismay of the three youngsters and of course, Donald's amusement.

"Ha ha!" Donald mocked with a smugged grin. His nephews glared at him in return, their moods soured at the fact that for some silly reason that they were not allowed to go trick-or-treating this year.

"Do not fear." Ansem spoke up this time to the triplets, "You three will be intending this year's Halloween party."

Now Donald was shocked and dismayed, exclaiming, "What!?"

"Ha ha!" Huey, Dewey and Louie mocked with smugged grins, mirroring their uncle's mockery earlier. Besides which, at least they could at least go to the Halloween Party, and prank on Donald to scare the wits out of him, similiar to what they did last year(As seen in Episode 16 of Life FAR from Normal-season 1).

"It's for the best." Eraqus concluded.

Donald groaned, crossing his arms and pouted, "Oh, nuts." knowing that he's stuck babysitting his nephews on Halloween, which just ruined his night already, and the holiday wasn't even for the next few days.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ven, Lea, Isa, Myde, Aqua, Terra, Melody, Elena, Cissnei, Mickey, Goofy, even Vanitas, Rai and Fuu were in one of the classes planning for the decorations and games for the Halloween party. Unfortunately, Arlene was made to be in charge of organizing and planning where things would go and reluctantedly allowed others on their ideas on how the party would go...only if she liked it.

In retrospect, Arlene's bossiness got on a lot of people's nerves.

Rai suddenly held up his hand for his idea, causing Arlene to sigh, "Yes, Rai?"

The tall student stood up from his seat and spoke in a deep voice, imitating someone, " _So, we meet again, Buzz Lightyear._ " before going back to normal and explained, "That was Emperor Zurg from the Buzz Lightyear video game, y'know?"

"Sit down, Rai." Arlene told him as calmly as possible. The dark-skinned young man grumbled, returning to his seat. She then gestured to the others, "Anyone else?"

Lea stood up and requested with a smirk, "I'd like a little theme from the Nightmare before Christmas rumor and the spirits of the dead."

"And why would we want to do that?" Arlene asked, skeptically.

"Because it's cool." The redhead replied.

"Er, no, it's not." The blonde-haired young woman said, "It's _lame_."

"Seriously? I wouldn't recommend saying that." Isa said with a grin. Before anyone could ask why, the young blue-haired man stood up, and began telling a story in a dark, and haunting tone, "Forty years ago, some kid made a mocking comment on how he didn't believe in the spirits of the haunting dead from the Graveyard, which legend says is the entrance to the land of Halloween."

Once he knew he got everyone's attention, Isa continued, "On the night before Halloween, as he passed it because he was dared to go there, the light from his lantern burned out, and the dark clouds covered the moon-light, except for the gravestones. The moment he was dared to kick five of them, out from the darkness of night, the spirits awoke, showing their anger of disrespect by surrounding him, and his hair turned ghostly white, his skin began to wrinkle and age, and then they stuffed him inside a coffen until dawn before they realised him and he ran all the way back home, but the curse was already placed onto him, and he lost his voice, unable to speak. In terror, he dashed off into the woods, which is the very woods outside of Radiant City."

He paused dramatically for a few moments to let it sink into everyone, before concluding, "He was never seen again."

Myde squeaked before hiding under his desk, shivering. Lea and even Vanitas both grinned despite the redhead suddenly gone slightly pale in slight terror. Melody and Elena shared incredious expressions at what they just heard. Aqua and Cissnei blinked. Terra and Ven's mouths gapped open slightly. Mickey and Goofy clinged onto each other, quivering in fear. Arlene was silent in muted shock and admittedly frightened. Everyone else had mixtures of awe, terror and shock at the ghost story Isa just told them.

"H-heh. Good one, man. Thanks for the warning." Lea weakly chuckled.

"Fine, we'll do your...whatever it is you wanted." Arlene finally said to Lea, feeling a little spooked out and decided not to take her chances. She then asked around, "Who else?"

Elena this time stood up from her seat and said to her cousin, "I want to dress up as a Vampire Empress."

"Whoa! Now that's scary." Lea flinched, leaning back a little from the honey-bee-eyed young woman.

"Whimp." Vanitas rolled his eyes at the redhead who gave him an annoyed look.

Arlene smirked. Despite being cousins, she and Elena didn't really get on so well, and she had an idea to make the latter miserable just to get what she wants. "Well, I guess I can let you do that."

"Really?" Elena asked, surprised.

"Only if you clean out the Staff Closet." The olderish blonde said smuggly.

The youngerish blonde cringed, prostesting, "But...it's filthy in there."

"I know." Arlene grinned fiendishly.

Ven sighed, "Actually, Genie and I were gonna do that."

"Sorry, Ventus. But no magic allowed for decorating or anything like this. We are doing this the old fashioned way." Arlene continued.

The spiky-blond-haired teen groaned and slumped in his seat.

"Hey, Mickey. You gonna dress up as a vampire too?" Goofy asked.

"Nope. That was last year." Mickey shook his head, saying to everyone, "This year, I'm gonna go as Captain Hook."

"Hey, I got another idea, y'know?" Rai exclaimed, standing up once more. To everyone's distrubance, he began to speak in an echo-like voice while somehow managing to speak backwards, " _Haey uoy evah tog ti reknolp thgir ereh..._ " before coughing as it made his throat sore, and then sat back down.

Vanitas blinked, dumbfounded, before asking to Lea, Ven and Isa, "What did he say?"

"Something in completely creepy gibberish." Lea managed to reply, while Isa and Ven both shrugged. In other words, none of them or anyone else had a single clue either.

Except for Goofy who answered, "Hey, I think he said 'Yeah, you got it plonker right here'." which earned him shocked and confused expressions from his friends and the rest of the students in the room.

"Okay. _That_ was scary." Terra muttered. No one argued with him on that.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Arlene sent everyone on their assignments which included Elena going to do her dirty job in cleaning up the Staff Closet. Before she did, however, she haunted down Reno who reluctantedly showed her the room. The moment the two opened it, the sight was in worst shape. Old dirty sheets layed all over the place, the floor was filthy in grime and other things neither of them wanted to know, real spiderwebs on the corner of the sealing, buckets covered in dirt and other slime that smelled so bad that it nearly made the two students want to gag, and well...other disgusting things that hasn't been cleaned in a while.

There was even a discarded pizza box that Jecht no doubt tossed into rather than the trash can.

"Ew!" Elena groaned in disgust. "It's completely more gross than I thought."

"'Course it's completely gross, 'Lena." Reno shrugged, before casually pointing at the bucket at the corner, "That bucket over there? It was used by a guy or two to puke their guts out into a couple of years back."

"Ugh, Reno. I'm already feeling nauseous as it is." Elena moaned, hesitatedly moving inside the dump of a closet. "I just can't believe Arlene made me do this just for a costume. She may be my cousin, but she always seems to want to make my life miserable."

Reno snorted, "No offence, but I think that cousin of yours just likes to make everybody miserable. I mean, she has a bad taste in humor, that's for sure."

"Do you think it's because...of my feelings for Tseng?" The young teenaged woman asked, concerned as thoughts came into her mind. Sure Arlene was mean to begin with, dating back to their childhood days. But ever since Elena started to show off her feelings to Tseng in private, which was sometimes noticed, Arlene just seemed...livid towards her.

"Nah, I don't think that's the case." The young man shook his head, placing his hands behind his head casually. "Heard a rumor that she has a crush on Mr. Lauriam, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case, considerin' how crazy he is over his plants. Which includes that man-eating one, by the way."

"Yeah, well, thanks for helping me to handle this assignment." Elena said, cringing as she tried to force herself to get started.

"Hey, whoa. Who says I'm helpin' you clean up this mess?" Reno protested in wide-eyed shock. "You only asked me to show you this dump. I don't remember you askin' me to help you clean it up."

Elena knew this was coming and sighed, but she had an idea in how to get her friend to help her clean up the Closet, "Well, my aunt is coming over to visit the school. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to style your hair and give you her Pepper-mint cookies."

( **Cue to the creepy Psycho music of horror** )

Reno stared at her in complete horror. He'd met Elena's aunt once who happened to be Arlene's crazy mother. She always liked to fiddle with his hair for some reason. And her pepper-mint cookies were just down-right wrong and disgusting. Pepper-mint, suger, pastery and milk didn't mix well, and it always upset his stomach. The redhead was no idiot when Elena made this threat; either help clean or get tortured by her deranged aunt...again.

"Move over. We got work to do." Reno quickly responded after a split second or two of pure horror of thoughts, moving to help Elena with the icky job.

The two students indeed got to work, using the cleaning utensils that was desperately needed. The room was practically disgusting as they found and tossed away overwhelming sickening oder smell of things that were covered in filthy slime, cleaning off the cobwebs, wiping off all of the grime while getting some on themselves in the process, throwing out both a miniture bat with a peg leg and a large rather violent rat out the window(the same two from Episode 1 of Life DEFINATELY not Normal-season 2), and finally finishing off in scrubbing clean the floor.

Seeing how, as it took them a good three hours of doing, between the two of them, Elena and Reno made the place good as new and the two students shared a high-five with proud smiles.

After that, Reno left to his room to take a much needed shower while Elena went to find her cousin to let her know that the cleaning work is done before she can take a shower herself and then begin decorating the Closet to turn it into a Dungeon Room.

"The Staff's Closet is clean, Arlene." Elena reported once she found her in the hallway.

"What a good little cleaner you are." Arlene replied mockingly, tapping her cousin on the head while disgusted on how filthy Elena was, before walking away.

The other blonde hurried after her, continuing, "I need material and other decorations to start the Dungeon."

Arlene didn't reply to that, and instead struck a bombshell to her cousin, turing to face her and said smugly, "Oh, I forgot to mention. I decided to be the Vampire Empress, and you are going as a Clown to give out balloons."

"What!?" Elena exclaimed, protesting, "But you said I get to be Vampire Empress if I cleaned out the room!"

"I know, but then I realised that a Vampire Empress is someone who is tall, evil and desirable...and that's me!" Arlene said, "Buh-bye!" and hurried off in her victory.

Elena stood there in utter dismay and anger. It was so unfair! Arlene must've planned this from the very beginning just to really make her night miserable. Last year she was left alone. In fury, she stormed off to her room.

* * *

Few days later, things were almost done in the Basketball court room that was going to be used for the party and Arlene's bossy attitude in how things were going to be set up was really getting on everyone's nerves. Elena was still fuming that she was forced to go as a clown which will humilate her while Arlene had stolen her costume just because she was in charge.

Donald meanwhile, was still fuming for having to babysit Huey, Dewey and Louie for the party which completely ruined his night tomorrow.

Iago and Mushu were both glaring down at Arlene who kept on telling them that the way how they were putting up the false dead tree ferns were in the wrong place or not the way she wanted.

"If I didn't know any better, I swear she wants to make this party scary-free and turn it into a fancy dress party." Mushu grumbled as he and the parrot once again fiddled with the decoration for the twentith time today.

"She already forced her cousin to dress up like a clown giving away balloon animals when we already have one in a blue lout of a Genie who turns himself into anything!" Iago complained in annoyance. "What's the point in this stupid holiday, anyway?"

By then, the doors opened to reveal, surprisingly, Tseng and an unfamiliar, slightly older man with short golden-blond hair that was spiky at the bottom that was smoothed back by hair-gel, sunglasses, thin beard, and wearing a Turk uniform, both of them carrying boxes full of Halloween items which included a skeletion that resembled to Jack Skellingtion from the Nightmare before Christmas movie, and a zombie-like woman doll that resembled to his girlfriend Sally.

"Tseng!" Lea greeted as he, Isa, Ven, a blushing Elena, Mickey, and Arlene who faked her smile, approached the two Turks. "I didn't know you were delivering the stuff I ordered."

"There was an accident on the main road on the way here, and the courier's van broke down. So we voulenteered to bring this to you as requested." Tseng explained, before gazing at the older man while introducing him and the students to each other, "This is Legend, one of the senior members of the Turks. Legend, this is Lea and Isa and Elena, three of our future members of the Turks. Ventus is one of the future members of SOLDIER, Elena's cousin Arlene, and their friend, Mickey Mouse."

"So, you guys and li'l lady are three of the future rookies of our team, eh?" Legend chuckled, "Pleasure to meet'chas!"

He turned his attention to Ven and Mickey, saying, "And you two must be the guys who stopped ol' Chernabog I heard about."

"Uh, y-yeah." Ven replied, with slight unease.

"Ah, don't sweat it, kid. I don't bite. You kids and your pals sure did a good job. I have high hopes for all of ya's!" Legend smirked with a thumbs up to them.

"Gee, thanks, Mr. Legend." Mickey replied as calmly as possible, feeling uneasy about the new Turk he and his friends had just met.

Legend shook his head, "No need to call me mister. Just Legend's fine."

"These Halloween items are really interesting." Arlene commented fakely and tried her best to hide it as possible, though the things that Lea had ordered for the theme he wanted disgusted her to no end. Not to mention, despite Isa's warning earlier this morning, she was right near her limit.

"Lea, where would you like us to put these?" Tseng inquired, while silently pleading Legend to just shut up for once as the man's attitude sometimes got on his nerves.

"Ah, this table should do. We'll take care of the rest." Lea shrugged, gesturing at the table next to the door. The two Turks did as requested, "Hey...thanks, anyway. You didn't have to."

The Wutaiin smirked at the young redhead, "Well, we were on a minor mission and were requested to bring all of this to you."

"You wanna join us for the Halloween party, sir?" Mickey kindly offered.

It took all of Elena's will power not to flinch. Normally, she would've been delighted to have Tseng around. But since she was going to be dressed up as a clown, she didn't want him to see her like that which would embarrass her to no end.

To Elena's relief, Tseng shook his head, "I appreciate the offer, but unfortunately, I have...a certain assignment tomorrow."

"You workin' on Halloween? Don't the Turks usually get a day off?" Lea asked, slightly disappointed.

"The President and his son are going to a party themselves in Midgar." The Turk's Lietentent replied.

"Oh...guard duty then, huh?"

"More like babysittin'." Legend grumbled.

"I think we should leave for now. Enjoy your time, all of you." Tseng quickly nodded a goodbye to the students while pulling Legend by the ear and dragged him out of the room, where the older man yelped in comical agony.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!" Legend grunted.

"Bye, sir!" Ven waved along with his friends.

"Thank you so much sir for helping make our night more interesting!" Arlene called out. Once she knew that the Turks were out of earshot, she angrily picked up the boxes and shoved them into Lea and Isa's arms, telling them, Mickey, Ven, and Elena, "Lea, get your _stupid_ junk off of this table and put them into that corner over there! I'm in charge of this party, and I say, where, stuff, goes!"

Without waiting for a response, Arlene stormed off. Ven and the others glared in Arlene's direction before going over to the corner table by the window, even more in a sour mood. This was going to be the worst Halloween anyone's going to have this year.

"Vampire Empress?" Lea questioned to Elena, before commenting angrily without waiting for a reply, "She should go as a sewer rat."

"I wish we can pay her back somehow." Ven grumbled, shaking his head as Lea and Isa placed the boxes onto the table for the time being, before asking, "Hey, do you think that these guys will come to life since Arlene mocked them?"

"Dunno. Maybe." Isa said, slightly uncertain.

Suddenly, Mushu slid down from the ceiling while Iago hovered down onto the table, the former asking, "These spooky people and decorations are under a spell?"

"Oh, please. Don't jinx us. Chernabog and Hades were nightmares as they were." Iago groaned, shaking his head, before quickly reconsidering his words on the thought of getting back at Arlene would be nice. "On second thought, it would serve Arlene right for being bossy."

Mushu shrugged, before going up into the box and shook the skeletion doll, before getting off and gesturing at Arlene's direction, calling to it as though it was a dog, "C'mon, boy! Go get her! Go on! *Whistles* C'mon!"

Awkward silence.

Iago facepalmed himself before pointing out, "It's a skeletion, not a dog, in case you haven't noticed!"

"Hmm...guess they don't work." Mushu muttered, disappointed.

"That's too bad. It'd be kinda cool if they did, though." Mickey shrugged, as he and his friends walked away to continue help with the rest of the decorations.

Fully unaware that the eyes of the dolls began to glow red and green, indicating that something is about to happen on the Night of Frights.

* * *

That night on Halloween, everything was set up and the party was on, with music going. Right now, the song "Monster Mash" was playing from the speakers. Some of the students like Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Namine, Yuffie, Tidus and Yuna were out with Clarabelle on trick-or-treating, while everyone else were enjoying the party. Or at least, some of them were. Mickey was dressed up as Captain Hook, with a false hook he was holding in his left hand. Ven dressed up as the main protagonist of the first Assassin's Creed video game because he thought, despite the franchise being violent, he thought the outfit was cool.

Lea dressed up as a warewolf and was the host of one of the games. Isa went as a mad scientist. Aqua dressed up in an outfit similiar to Elizabeth Swann's dress from the beginning of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, only without the extremely tight corest, so she was comfortable. Terra went as the 1700's gentleman to counter with Aqua's outfit. Minnie was dressed as a Princess, while Daisy went as Frankenstein's wife. Reno was dressed as a Zombie while Rude decided to dress up as a Turk for practice, and you gotta say, he looked pretty darn good in it.

Melody decided to dress as a Witch as it was her first Halloween as well. Myde dressed up as a soccer player, which was no surprise. Vanitas wore his own hand-made costume based on his own idea; dressed in an outfit of black and red that looked like vains part of his body with black goves and boots, and a half jaw-mask.

I bet you can guess why his costume looks familiar.

Goofy dressed up in a black liontart suit with a hat shaped like a pumpkin.

Cloud dressed up in a golden version of Genesis's outfit while Zack decided to go as Sephiroth and even managed to make a wig to try and replicate the legendary SOLDIER's hair.

Everyone else's costumes is pretty much mixtured all over the place, so I'll let you guys imagine what their costumes are. Iago dressed up as a pirate(just like in Episode 3 of Life DEFINATELY not Normal) while Mushu dressed up as Buzz Lightyear. Genie, being magical, had turned himself into a Cowboy.

Elena meanwhile, feeling embarrassed and angry though she managed a fake smile, was dressed up as the Clown under Arlene's command, handing out long balloons that can be shapped into anything, but since she had no skill, she just handed them out while calling them either a worm, a snake, a spagetti, and finally, when Huey, Dewey and Louie, who were all dressed up as themselves inside out(very unsual costumes indeed) approached, a caterpiller.

"Uh...this is not a real good balloon animal." Dewey commented to Elena.

"Really? Let me fix that." Elena replied, before bursting the balloon. "There. Now it's extinct!" before storming off, having had enough of this ridiculous waste of time.

She met up with Ven, Mickey, Lea, Isa, Reno, Donald and Goofy who had just finished off the game of break down the tower of bowling pins with a ball, with Reno having won a burger-buddy which was a miniture figurine with a bobbly head.

"Can you believe her?" Elena asked angrily, glaring at Arlene who was dressed up in the very costume she wanted to be as, but instead had been taken away from her and forced to be a clown against her will. Arlene was having a conversation with Mr. Lauriam.

"Sweet Shiva!" Reno exclaimed in fright at how even more scary Arlene was now as a Vampire Empress.

"Gawrsh!" Goofy shuddered.

"Guys, she's talking about how Arlene stole her costume." Mickey pointed out in slight annoyance.

"Oh." Reno muttered, quickly out of his scared mode before sighing. "Yeah, no doubt about it. She just likes makin' people's lives miserable. Especially 'Lena's."

"What you guys need is a perfect plan to get back at her and not let her boss you around." Vanitas spoke up as he approached the group along with Rude, Cloud, Zack, Terra, Aqua, Minnie, Daisy, Melody, Aerith and Tifa who, along with Ven and the others, nodded in agreement.

"Who needs to make a plan?" Genie asked as he, Mushu and Iago approached.

Before anyone could answer, Huey, Dewey and Louie approached, eating rolls of ham and cheese, commenting on how good the food was. There was a blue lightning flash of warning Isa and Lea both felt instantly as the two instantly recongised the rolls.

"Okay, where'd you guys get those?" Lea asked, hoping that he was wrong.

"Over there, where Jack Skellingtion and Sally are sitting." Huey answered, gesturing at the two dolls that sat in front of the box in the very same corner they'd been placed at a day earlier.

"You do realise what you just done?" Isa inquired warningly.

"It has cheese in it." Louie shrugged.

"You just angered the spirits of the dead by disrespecting them and stole their property!" Isa half-yelled. "Since it's Halloween, anything can happen and the Spirits will end up coming right at you and now we're all done for!"

"Way to go, Cheese-Heads!" Lea congratulated the boys sarcastically.

This made the triplets shudder while glancing at the food they 'stole' from the dolls that were said to be cursed and since it was Halloween, anything can happen. Donald gave them a disappointed and angry look at they caused another trouble.

"Sorry, you guys." The trio said, guiltily.

Vanitas rolled his eyes, "Oh, please. It's just a superstition to scare people. It's Halloween and that story is rather pathetic. You guys are overreatcing; You didn't do anything wrong."

Huey, Dewey and Louie all sighed in relief when they heard this, until Iago noticed an odd smell that made him cringe. "Ew...What's that stentch?"

"Gee, what happened to the Lemonade jar?" Mickey asked, noticing that the jug of lemonade had suddenly turned black, moldy and it smelled...dead.

"What is that?" Arlene asked, as she overheard this and cringed in disgust.

"That...used to be Lemonade." Terra answered, eyes wide. When did that happen?

Elena suddenly began to feel unsettled, and as she gazed at the direction where the dolls were, for a split second she thought they were there, but a second later...they just disappeared.

Wanting to make sure that it wasn't what she thought it was, Elena asked her mean cousin, "Uh, Arlene...did you move the dolls?"

"No..." Arlene answered, realising that the dolls were gone, and was starting to feel uneasy herself.

"Did...did any of you guys?" Elena asked her friends, who all responded that none of them moved them either and now they were feeling unsettled and worried.

"What's that!?" Dewey exclaimed, pointing to the right.

When Ven and the others turned to gaze at the direction the young duckling was pointing at, all of them caught a glimpse of two figures that looked suspiciously like the dolls leave through the doors, leaving a trail of fog that wasn't in the room before, lights glowing unnaturally and the figures of the dolls were now human sized. Everyone who witnessed that felt their hearts freeze and stop at realization.

"The spirits are awake. They walk the night of the dead." Isa declared omniously.

"Uh oh..." Iago muttered, worriedly.

Mushu shivered in fear, quivering, "Oh man...! They're gonna kill us!"

Looks like this year's Halloween will be much more scary than any of them originally thought.

* * *

The group tried to keep calm about the situation and split up a little to try and believe that nothing was out of the ordinary. Vanitas didn't believe in any of this at all while Reno nervously commented that the Cafeteria food and drinks end up moldy once and a while, so Arlene stubbornly suggested that they'd serve free Punch.

"Uh, this whole angering the spirits if you do somethin' wrong that disrespects them is just...a ghost story, right?" Lea nervously asked to Isa as he, Ven, Mickey and almost everyone else gathered around again, finding it hard to try and not get nervous.

"Yeah. Why?" Isa replied, uneasily.

"Well...Huey, Dewey and Louie went to the bathroom with Myde and then there-there was this flash, and..." Mickey explained before trailing off while sharing an uneasy glance with Donald who held up three small glasses of dirt, "...Then we found dust."

Isa's eyes widened as he softly gasped. "Oh, great."

"W-What is it?" Ven asked, uneasily.

"The mud of the dead." The blue-haired young man explained, "I've heard that this is the starting point of the spirits showing their anger. First it starts off with exterminating those who ate their food, turning them into...that."

"...We're so screwed." Lea muttered, scaredly as almost everyone in the group shared horrified expressions.

"Oh no! Not the boys!" Donald exclaimed, horrified, trying to be extra careful with the three glasses of dirt that was most definately from his now deceased nephews.

"Oh please. Someone just moved the dolls. Why in the world would the Spirits waste their time coming here anyway?" Vanitas rolled his eyes.

"Well, look what they did to Huey, Dewey and Louie." Melody pointed out, gesturing at the cups.

The raven-spiky-haired teen shook his head, "It's not the kids. It's just dirt."

"Well, if it's not the boys, then why are their eyeballs in them?" Mickey asked, picking up one of the discarded eye-ball parts of the boys' costumes, covered in dirt that wasn't disintegrated.

"Hey, I just thought of something." Cloud spoke up, worriedly, gazing at both Mushu and Iago, "Since these two were brought back to life, do you think that's disrespectful?"

Deathly silence for a good three moments.

"What have we done!?" Mushu cried out in despair.

Iago meanwhile fell to his knees on the floor, groveling as he pleaded to the sky above, begging for forgiveness, "Sorry, oh powerful, respectful spirits!"

"Oh, please, don't punish us!" Genie sobbed, also collasping to his knees, begging, "I-I'm begging you! Don't curse us! Oh please, please, _pleeeease_!"

"Hey, maybe we can sort things out with magic. Right?" Ven suggested. While most of them nodded in agreement at the idea, Lea and Isa shared uncertain glances, as did Mushu and Elena, Iago wasn't paying attention, Arlene tried not to let this whole thing get to her, and Vanitas rolled his eyes once more.

"This is ridiculous! All this cursed spirits stuff is down-right idiotic!" Vanitas sighed, before making proof as though to test if it was real or not, yelling up at the sky, "You hear me? I think it's stupid! C'mon, Spirits! Turn me into dust!"

Silence. Nothing happened.

Smirking, Vanitas said to the others, "See? Nothing."

"Nothing...yet." Isa added, omniously.

Iago went over to Genie and asked, "How can you grovel like that? It's disgusting!" only to be flicked away by him in annoyance.

Mickey shook his head before suddenly sensing something, and slowly turned around, just in time to see figures hiding in the shadows of the doorway, still in fog and he felt his heart drop to his stomach. It was the dolls, only human sized! They slinked away, their eyes glowing in red and greed. The teenaged mouse gulped nervously. Oh, they were in big trouble, alright, but he tried not to let his fear get to him.

"Oh, Mickey, I'm scared!" Minnie shivered, clinging onto her boyfriend's right arm.

"D-Don't worry, Minnie. I-I'm sure we'll be okay." Mickey replied, just as nervous.

* * *

Lea, Isa and Arlene decided to try and figure things out even though things were getting more and more scarier by the minute. They split up from the rest of the group again and had not seen them since in the past ten minutes.

"Maybe the boys ran off to their rooms, too freaked out about all of this." Lea tried to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, probably." Isa tried to agree.

Arlene, getting more freaked out, stubbornly told the boys, "Well, whether that's the case or not, I'm going to enjoy myself." not wanting to believe that any of this was real.

Too bad it was getting more and more real by the minute.

" _Help! Lea, Isa! Arlene, help!_ " Ven's voice called out, which sounded echoed.

" _Anybody there? Help!_ " Mickey's voice came, and soon all of their friends except for Elena's voice were calling out for help, but Lea, Isa and Arlene couldn't figure out where they were coming from.

"Guys? Where are you?" Lea asked, getting worried.

" _Don't know! It's too dark! I can't even see the others!_ " Reno's voice called out.

The three of them tried to follow the source of the voices of their friends and Reno's cousin and their stomachs dropped when they heard that it was...coming from the burger-buddy toy, the head bobbling madly.

"Oh, man...! You guys are in the Burger Buddy!" Isa exclaimed.

" _We are?_ " Aqua's fearful voice cried out, horrified, coming from the Burger Buddy.

" _Well, don't just stand there! Do something!_ " Iago's voice shouted, pleadingly.

"How!?" Lea asked, desperately.

Now fully believing the entire thing was real, Arlene cried out to Lea, "This is your fault! You're the one who brought those ghost-type things!"

" _I can't use my magic because even I'm stuck in here!_ " Genie's voice screamed out.

" _Can't you just tell the Spirits that it's my fault and that I'm sorry? That none of the others had anything to do with it?_ " Vanitas' voice asked, worriedly.

Lea and Arlene by then were arguing while Isa tried to get them to stop and try to figure out how to save their friends. Unfortunately, the three of them all accidently bumped into the table where their trapped friends inside the burger buddy fell off and to the trio's horror, they could hear them scream which was cut off at the dreaded shatter of broken clay filled the air.

Lea, Isa, and Arlene gathered around the now broken burger buddy with it's head rendered to nothing, leaving behidn a body and a spring.

"Arlene...you killed them!" Lea yelled at the blonde-haired young woman, tears beginning to form as the realization that his cousin and friends were now dead.

"How did I do it!?" Arlene screamed back.

"You bumped into me and Isa!"

More screams filled the air from everyone else in at the party and doors slammed open. Lea, Isa and Arlene nervously stood up from behind the table, fear stabbing the trio as came Elena, but gone was her clown fake red nose. The outfit was shredded slightly, and dark make-up surrounded her eyes, her skin was slightly paler, and she was holding out her arms, as though wanting to reach someone, acting all zombie like.

" _Arlene_..." Elena's voice, taking on a haunting echo, chanted. She repeated this which was freaking out her friends and cousin, trying to get her to stop, but she didn't.

She pulled out a rubber dagger from one of the other students who flinched away in terror, muttering ghostly like a robot, " _Rubber...bad._ "

"Can you knock it off already, 'Lena!?" Lea pleaded, freaking out beyond belief.

Elena didn't stop after throwing away the fake dagger, pulling out a rather small but convincing maice from another, grinning, " _Maice...good._ " and used it to whack away everyting on the table next to her, causing Lea, Isa and Arlene to scream in horror, and everyone else backing away in terror. Elena then tossed the Maice away, once again returning to her zombie-position, her hands out towards her cousin.

" _Arlene...Arlene..._ " Elena chanted.

"Let's get out of here!" Isa cried out, as he and Lea both grabbed Arlene's wrists and dragged her with them out of the room. The trio looked for a place to try and get out of the school alive.

"To the dungeon!" Lea instructed, taking the lead and he, Isa, and Arlene could hear Elena chanting repeatedly to her cousin. The trio quickly ran into the Staff's Closet that was perfectly decorated as the vampire dungeon, locking the door behind them.

By the time Elena arrived, she tried to force the door open and accidently broke off the door handle outside, becoming angrier and angrier, punching the door and continued to chant Arlene's name.

"Okay, Elena has lost it now." Arlene shook her head.

"It's not Elena." Isa warned her, realising what has happened. "The Spirits have possessed her to get to you!"

"Why me!?"

That's when Lea realised the answer and glared at Arlene angrily, "It's because you called them stupid and had them shoved into the corner in the first place and now they're angry at you and want their revenge!"

Realising this and remembering that yesterday, Arlene was slapping herself on the side of the head for her own stupidity, calling herself dumb repeatedly, while outside, the possessed Elena continued to bang on the door attempting to break it down.

"Well, now what'd'we do?" Lea asked desperately to Isa.

Isa tried desperately to wreck into his brain until he remembered something and said, "I know. Mud. We need to gather mud. Legend says that mud will be the key to get us out of this mess!"

"...I'm not touching mud! It's disgusting!" Arlene protested.

"Would you rather get killed by your possessed cousin?" Lea deadpanned, as he and Isa stared at her skeptically.

" _ **Arlene!**_ " The Possessed Elena shouted from the other side of the door.

"...I'd rather get dirty." Arlene quickly said.

The trio then searched around the small room that could only fit at least fifteen people or less, but there was no evidence of mud at all. Just take skeletions, curtains, and other decorations.

"We're done for! There's no mud around here!" Arlene cried out, dismayed.

"I-it doesn't have to be mud!" Isa quickly said, "It can be maybe punch and cake!"

"Okay, so we need to somehow head back to the party." Lea read along the lines, before asking, "Then what?"

"We need to cover ourselves in them. That'll show our respect of the dead." Isa answered.

An awkward pause.

Arlene snorted, crossing her arms in disgust, "No way! I'm not going out there to cover myself! At least in here, we're safe."

Or so she thought.

Something tickled her on the shoulder and at the terrified expressions from Lea and Isa, the former pointing behind her, Arlene spun around and screamed in pure terror as the Spirits themselves, the human-sized living dolls from earlier hovered over her, attempting to capture her. In panic, Arlene sped away, yanking the door open and raced back to the party, with Lea and Isa quickly following.

" _ **ARLENE!**_ " The Possessed Elena chanted, louder this time after backing up a little, before she and the other two spirits slowly walked to give chase.

Racing to one of the food table, and under Isa's instruction, Arlene dunked her entire head into the punch bowl, soaking herself into the sweet flavoured liquid, before doing the same with the nearby chocolate cake with her eyes closed, messing herself up in panic.

"Okay, now spin around fast!" Isa instruced, just as the Possessed Elena and the two Spirits came back, but the trio paused at the sight of Arlene doing as Isa told her to do.

"What else?" Arlene pleadingly asked.

"Say I'm sorry." Lea instructed, now smirking. Arlene did as requested.

Unaware to her, Huey, Dewey, and Louie came out from the crowd, perfectly fine and all instructed in unison, "Squeek out loud and tap your back!"

Arlene did so, but only managed to tap herself on the butt.

Then Elena, suddenly normal and dropping the act at last, instructed mockingly to her cousin, "Also say, _"Elena, Elena! Please forgive me!"_."

"Elena, Elena! Please forgi-" Arlene began before stopping when she realised that her cousin had just talked normally and stopped what she was doing, before her eyes widened when Elena was suddenly herself but still in scary make up. "What!?"

From her left, Ven and the others who were thought to have been there emerged, all wearing smirks and perfectly fine as though nothing even happened to begin with, but the spirits were still there. Arlene couldn't believe it. What was going on?

"This is just so perfect." Vanitas snickered, "It would go well in next week's school paper."

Genie then magically pulled out a distorted microphone, handing it to Vanitas who mocked into it, which echoed the miniture voice Arlene had heard earlier, " _Help me, help me! I look ridiculous on the front page! Waah!_ " before laughing.

"What's the matter, Arlene? Zombie got your tongue?" Isa smirked, grinning evilly.

Reno and Lea both approached the two spirits, with the former saying with laughter, "Thanks, Boss. Thanks, Ms. Farron."

To Arlene's shock, the 'spirits' removed their heads which were really masks, revealing Tseng who was dressed up as the skellingtion, and Claire as Sally, both of them grinning uncharacteriscally smugged expressions.

"Anytime. It was punishment for Arlene's behavior, anyway." Claire chuckled.

"I wasn't completely honest yesterday about the guard duty." Tseng said, smirking.

Arlene couldn't believe it. Reno had it all planned out with everyone including Elena right from the beginning. The entire event throught out the night had been nothing more than a Halloween Prank, to get back at her for what she did to Elena and for being bossy and now even the rest of the teachers and Headmasters were not going to punish them for this humilation that placed onto her. They just ruined her night!

In humilation and embarrassment, Arlene stormed out, sobbing, running to her room, while everyone else held proud smirks at the success.

Lea, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Donald, Iago and Genie all bursted out into hysterical laughter while Ven and Terra gave each other a high-five and Elena politely nodded her gratitude to Tseng who nodded back with a warm smile.

"Thank you, everyone." Elena said to her friends.

"Hey, that's what friends are for." Mickey shrugged, chuckling.

* * *

Meanwhile, Arlene was fuming, arleady plotting her revenge until suddenly, a complete scary face appeared in front of her in the hallway in the darkness appeared, glowing and laughing evilly. Her humilation quickly replaced by renewed fear, she screamed before running and made it to her room 2.5 seconds later that normally would've taken ten minutes.

Little did she know, it was Timon and Pumbaa who had managed to sneak their way into the school, lowering the glowing mask they bought from town.

"Now that, Pumbaa, is what I call, _speed of light_." Timon said to his friend, before bursting into hysterical laughter at his own joke.

Pumbaa just stared at the audience, breaking the fourth wall slightly and not finding his friend's joke funny.

To be Continued.

* * *

 **A/N: That's Episode 3 completed and Halloween story done! But the adventures of our heroes still continue. See you in the next chapter...and I know it's still early, but...*Evil Voice*** _ **Happy Halloween!**_


	4. Episode 4: Mushu makes it Hot

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: I'm glad you guys are liking this one as well so far, and I will try my best to not mess it up. Anywhere, this episode is based on, again, one of my childhood memories of Disney TV shows.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 4: Mushu makes it Hot.

Mushu was having a bit of a problem today, and that, in his opinion, was the worst thing that can ever happen to him. He found himself with Aqua and Dr. Rai who was checking him for any signs of sickness or such that was distracting him. You see, it all started that he woke up this morning and when he tried to help out in warming up the fireplace in the Library, to his shock, he couldn't even breathe fire. Just a tiny speck of coal. Concerned and being in the room at the time, Aqua brought the distraughted little dragon to the Medical.

"Hmm...There doesn't seem to be anything wrong." Shalua finally said, shrugging a little helplessly, "The only thing I can think of is possible stress, or anxiety attack."

"Mushu, has something been stressing you lately?" Aqua asked worriedly to her friend, just to make sure.

Mushu shrugged, just as helplessly as the two women. "I have no idea what's causing all of this! Yesterday, I was perfectly fine, but this morning, it's like...like I forgot to feel the fire core in me."

"Fire Core?"

"Of course. Every dragon has a Fire Core to breathe fire that is one of the ultimate powers of the dragon-kind." Mushu explained, proudly at first before asking in slight annoyance, "I mean, seriously. Where do you think our fire powers really come from; our stomachs?"

"I guess it makes sense." Aqua replied, now that she thought about it.

Shalua on the other hand, frowned deepily about what she had heard before saying, "Well, if that's the case, then perhaps something is preventing your fire core from reacting normally. Unfortunately, I have no idea what's causing this to really happen."

Hearing this made Mushu shocked and devastated as he began to panic, "That's just great! If I can't fix this up, I'm doomed! And if I can't breathe fire, I'm more than useless!"

"My suggestion would be you try practicing to breathe fire again and get the hang of it. Also, try not to get too stressed out. Stress is very unhealthy." Shalua finally advised.

"She's right. Come on, let's find Ven and the others. I'm sure we'll find something to calm you down." Aqua suggested, picking up Mushu and holding him in her arms.

"Yeah, alright. But just so you know, if anybody's gonna give me extra stress, it's Bird-Brain." Mushu grumbled, folding his arms to his chest.

* * *

Turns out Mushu's lack of Fire Core wasn't the only thing that was the problem today. The entire town of Radiant City was having the very same issue of something differen that was extremely serious. Ven, Terra, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Melody, Iago and Minnie were in Terra's Apartment room, with Genie who had turned himself into a plumber and was trying to unscrew the tab of the kitchen sink, pulled it out, but no water came gushing out.

Next, he digged through the sink hole, going magically half down the drain before coming back up, having pulled out...a tea pot? Genie shrugged before tossing it aside before turning on the tap again. Like before, not water came out, except for a single, pathetic little drop that landed in the sink with a 'plop'.

"Nope. And since this the third sink I've checked, it's safe to say that..." Genie paused dramatically, "...We're out of water."

The students and Iago all shared shocked and horrified glances at the news. If there was no water, something must be wrong somewhere. Maybe the Water Facilities were having mechanical problems?

"What're we gonna do? Without water, we'll dry up to death!" Goofy cried out, hysterically.

"You mean die of thirst?" Donald corrected in annoyance.

"Oh, uh, right! Ay-yhuck!" Goofy realised, shaking his head.

"I guess we'll have to wait 'till the facilities fix 'em up." Mickey thought, lost on how else the problem can be fixed.

"Yeah, but the juice and milkshake supplies are pretty much out too." Terra pointed out, "And these sort of things can probably take up about a week to get fixed."

"Not to worry! I'll fix that problem." Genie declared, before admitting as he brought out a book out of nowhere and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for, "Or, we can go to the old fashioned Pumping Station created by the now extinct gummi bears to look for the problem!"

"Gummi bears?" Iago rolled his eyes in annoyed disbelief. "So what were these bears made out of? Actual gummis from the sweet factory?"

Lea quirked a skeptical eye-brow, "I thought the whole Gummi-Bear thing was just a kids fairytale. Seriously, there's no way in a million years those guys were actually real and that some of 'em helped save a kingdom in the medieval times."

"I agree. Sure, we'd seen lots of un-normal things for almost two years, but that's just beyond ridiculous." Isa nodded in agreement, while the door was knocked from the others and Terra approached it to open it, revealing Aqua and a miserable looking Mushu.

"Oh, hey, guys. Come on in." Terra gestured, allowing his girlfriend and the dragon in.

"What's going on in here?" Aqua asked, concerned even more.

"The water's stopped and we're trying to figure out the cause of this." Ven answered, "Genie thinks the cause of this is at this old fashioned Pumping Station rather than the Water Facilities being down."

"Oh, great." Mushu said sarcastically, "First my fire's out and now the water's out! What's next, the electricity going out!?"

"If it goes out in the next second or two, it's _your_ fault, pal!" Iago warned at the dragon who glared back at him.

The dragon rolled his eyes and said, "Hey, I'm _tryin'_ to get my stress levels down if I wanna get back into the heat of my Fire Core, and you're not helping matters."

"Fire Core?" Ven asked, confused.

"It's what inside all fire breathing dragons that gives them the power to breathe fire." Aqua explained, "But Mushu can't feel it right now. Dr. Rai suggested that he keeps his stress levels down and start training calmly to get it back."

"Oh, you poor thing." Minnie said with sympathy to Mushu, "That's terrible."

"Oh, Mushu. I hope you'll be able to get better." Melody added.

Mushu sniffled, "Yeah, but it's easier said than done. Now with this other problem going on, this is only just the beginning of another disaster."

"Aw, I wish we could help." Mickey said while rubbing his friend's back, feeling very sorry for poor Mushu.

"Genie, is there a way to help Mushu with his problem?" Ven asked.

The magical being shrugged, "I could help, but I think my magic would probably only make things worse. Fire Cores must be felt by the heart of the dragons. Kinda like how you must focus on the magical core within you to control magic, and this neglates on everyone that has such a core; like genies, sorcerers, wizards, witches, and even you with your Emerald Sword, Ven."

"So _that's_ where you went wrong with that head of yours; you've been focusing too much on your magical core to even focus on using your mind skills." Iago rolled his eyes at this comment. "No wonder half of the time you randomly do things stupidly!"

"I think we should worry about the water problem first before we worry about how cores in everything and everyone works out or whatever." Lea pointed out, "Sure, I wanna help Mushu with his problem, but, if that's gonna take a while, I'd like to have something to drink while we're at it. Even if this Pump Station the ' _Gummi-Bears_ ' made is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Lea had made the gesture of quoting 'Gummi-Bears' with two fingers with his hands.

"But the place could be anywhere." Donald pointed out with a shrug.

"I'm not sayin' that the whole thing is real, but maybe we should at least check it out, just in case it is real or not." The redhead stated.

"Don't tell me we're going on _another_ dangerous adventure." Iago groaned in dismay.

"Oh, come on. It's only a Pump Station. What else can we find there?" Terra pointed out with a single-shoulder shrug.

"Well..." Genie began, sheepishly, "Not sure if they're still real or not, but we might bump into Ogres that live there...or maybe they don't live there anymore. Who knows?"

"The girls stay here 'til we get back. Just in case." Mickey said with seriousness. "I don't wanna risk in somethin' bad happening."

"I'm going with. I know to handle myself, and I don't want to sit here worried about you guys." Aqua told everyone, firmly.

Iago grumbled in defeat, "Yep...I knew this is gonna be another dangerous adventure."

* * *

It was decided that Ven, Mickey, Terra, Aqua, Iago, Mushu, Genie, Lea, Isa, Donald and Goofy to travel to the place which, surprisingly, was in the mountains outside of Radiant City that can be seen in the distance. They then split into two teams; Ven, Mickey, Terra, Aqua, Mushu and Genie headed towards the Pump Station following the map in the book, while Lea, Isa, Donald, Goofy and Iago were to stay in the area of the fields to dig into the ground and check the ancient pipes.

"Well, at least Iago isn't with us. It'll keep you calm for now." Aqua assured to Mushu.

"Nice break from that noisy bird for once." Mushu said.

"Hey, is that a waterfall I'm hearing?" Ven wondered as he and everyone else could hear an echoing noise from the cave tunnels they were venturing through, nearing an exit.

Genie nodded, "Mmm-hmm! The Ancient Gummi-Bears made sure that the Pump Station was layed in secret. It's just on the other side of a little waterfall which is what we're hearing."

Well, he was half-right on that. The only thing he was wrong about was the size of the waterfall.

"A _little_ waterfall?" Terra repeated in disbelief. In front of them was two large cliffs that were gapped about a good ten feet apart, the waterfall itself meanwhile, was about fifty feet tall and massive. Down below was a river below with a good 30 feet or higher drop that was a kiss of death.

"I guess they got the size wrong." Genie shrugged, sheepishly.

Mickey then noticed something and stepped carefully closer to the edge of the cliff, before groaning as he picked up a piece of what was left of a rope-bridge. "Oh, no. Looks like this bridge was cut away a while ago."

"Well, how are we gonna get across now?" Mushu asked, dismayed.

"Have no fear, Genie is here!" Genie declared proudly, before turning into a construction worker and made four other duplicates of himself before they all zoomed towards the broken bridge, one of them picking up Mickey and placing him halfway away from the bridge, saying, "Danger zone, son. Stay far back."

Genie and his duplicates quickly got to work in creating a new, stronger and safer, thick, long and wide wooden bridge, connecting it to the sides of the cliffs to make it extra safe, with railing and all until after about maybe three minutes or so, the bridge was completed.

"Call it a day, boys!" Genie told his duplicates who all disappeared one by one in a poof of magic cloud.

"Thanks, Genie." Ven said to his friend, "Makes things easier for now."

"No problem-o, Ven!" Genie saluted, before taking lead onto the new bridge while taking form of a general, "Now, onward, soldiers! Left! Left! Left, right, left!"

"Professional, isn't he?" Mushu smiled as he climbed onto Ven's shoulder while the teen and the others walked onto the new bridge, all of them relieved that it was perfectly solid and they didn't have to worry about anything, even with the wind blowing against them.

Ven chuckled, "I think he'd do well in the ShinRa Army as Captain. Too bad the General thing is Sephiroth's job."

"No, it's because of confidence, and confidence is an important matter." Mushu told him wisely.

"Right. I'll remember that." The spiky-blond-haired sixteen year old nodded, memorizing his friend's advice in his head, as he and the others easily made it to the others before stopping.

"Where to now, Genie?" Aqua inquired.

"It says here that the next location point is a single broken sign." Genie replied, after taking a quick look at the book before glancing up, before gasping in shock which caused him to drop the book as well. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me!"

In front of them was a metal sign, which looked no older than 10 years old, maybe a bit younger. It was painted in ink and written in bold letters.

" **The Phantom Blot Territory.** " Ven read aloud, before repeating in confusion, "The Phantom Blot?"

"Oh, I have of 'im." Mickey muttered, worriedly. "He's a mysterious but notorious criminial that always wears a black cape all over him, you can't even see his eyes, and he only has white eye-holes. He has this thing about Ink. That's why he's called the Phantom Blot."

"Not sure I like the sound of that." Mushu muttered worriedly.

"That means we have to be careful in not to approach him." Aqua said with seriousness.

"Uh...easier said than done." Terra muttered, pointing at the corner left of where he and the others were standing. In a small area clearing, was a blimp that was sitting there. It had a flag that had a picture of...an Ink Blot?

Ven and the others glanced at each other before quickly hiding behind trees, and then slowly made their way towards where Genie was leading while crouched down to avoid in detecting the Blimp or if the Phantom Blot was around. Fortunately, they made it through and were now descending the stairs, though Mushu nearly fell off another cliff of another waterfall.

So the group, with the help of Genie, climbed down via rope and looked around to see any signs of the Pump Station.

"I know that it's around here somewhere." Genie muttered, more to himself than anything else, before turning into a scientist and checked the water nutruils, taking a sip of it and nodded, "Yeeep! This is the right place, everyone."

"Hey, what's this black stuff?" Mushu spoke up suddenly, causing everyone to gather around him and saw what he was looking at. A black blob was on the ground.

"It's Ink." Mickey stated after getting a closer look at it. Soon he and his friends realised that there was another Ink blot on the ground, lead by more and more until the group realised that the trail of the ink blots went right into the doorway of a stone wall.

"Hey, you don't think...the Phantom Blot is behind all of this?" Ven theoried with seriousness.

Genie quickly turned himself into Sherlock Holmes, saying, "Elementary, my dear Ventus. Considering the Blimp around here, the coincendal timing of the water going out, and this Ink Blot trail; This is the case of the Phantom Blot's scheme to dry up Radiant City!"

"I'll burn him into crisp if he is behind all of this!" Mushu grunted, only to groan in annoyance and dismay when as he tried to blow a flame of fire, again, it only came out as a tiny speak of coal. "Not again...!"

"Mushu, I'm sure you'll be able to use your fire again. You just need to be patient." Aqua told him, while still feeling sorry for the dragon.

The group, despite this set back, silently crept into the doorway, which inside was a wooden in-built factory with wood versions of pipes. As Ven and Genie had suspected, the locked door had been blown open by someone...and because of the ink trail, it was becoming more and more clear that the Phantom Blot was here. Genie magically lit up a flaming torch, making Mushu a bit jealous.

As they ventured in, Wooden and old versions of pipes and water-mills, powered by an inside cave Waterfall which they realised powered to the Water Facilties in Radiant Garden.

"You were right, Genie. If this is real, then the Gummi Bears were real too." Ven muttered in amazement.

"I knew it was real!" Genie said, though he was just as amazed as his friends were.

"Wow...so they really build all of this?" Mickey asked, stunned at the entire place. Who would've thought that Gummi-Bears actually build all of this in the medieval times.

"Who would've thought such a place even existed?" Terra muttered as he and Aqua gazed around their surroundings.

Just then, Aqua gasped softly before she pointed up at the watermill right at the waterfall, saying, "I think that's the problem."

The others looked up to see what she was looking at, realising that she was right. A large broken tree trunk was stuck underneath the watermill which caused it to stop moving since it was between the ledge of the cliff. However the Phantom Blot managed to pull this trick off, none of them knew yet, but knew that they had to get rid of the log to get the mill working again.

"So _that's_ what's stoppin' the water." Mickey stated.

"Quite indeed, Mouse." An unfamiliar voice spoke from above, alarming the six friends to try and find the source of the voice.

"Who's there!?" Ven demanded.

"Look!" Mushu cried out, pointing at the cliff above them. Ven, Aqua, Terra, Mickey and Genie followed Mushu's direction and saw, up on a higher wooden pipe, was a fall black-coat like figure that looked like a sleeping-bag costume that was fully black, almost made out of ink, with only white eyes glaring down at them.

"Well, now. What do we have here? Four teenagers, a miniture lizard, and a genie for a group? Ooh, now that's a crowd." The figure mocked, and from the tone of his voice, the group guessed that he was smiling evilly.

The group's eyes narrowed at the new enemy, immediately knowing who he is.

"You must be the Phantom Blot. The one who is causing all the water in our home to stop." Aqua grunted, glaring at the figure.

The Phantom Blot chuckled, "So you know who I am. Very impressive to correctly guess my idenity, young lady. Stay out of my way, if you know what's good for you?"

"Why are you doing this?" Terra demanded.

"Well, I guess I could give you a little information. You see, it's my plot to destroy this old piece of junk so that I can use this oppotunity to get everyone to pay me to 'fix' the problem without doing anywork, so that way all the money in the world will be mine!" The Phantom Blot explained.

But while he was talking, Ven had secretly told Genie to go up to the log and cut it away while he and the others distracted the Phantom Blot as long as possible.

"And cutting away the rope bridge was your doing too?" Mickey inquired with a glare.

To their suprise, the Phantom Blot was confused as they could literally see two question marks appear over his head, before they vanished when he glared at them, saying, "That was not my doing. It's been like that since when I came here."

"That explains the hot-air balloon." Mushu said, sarcastically.

"Well, it's time for me to go." Phantom Blot concluded, before pulling out a remote, adding evilly, "And time for all of you brats become the biggest Ink Blots in history."

Only for not only his remote to be snatched away unexpectedly, but when the Blot turned to see who had snatched it, he heard Genie say, smugly, "Sorry, Mr. Blot!"

"Huh?" Phantom Blot asked, but was shocked to find that Genie had cut away the giant log into wooden blocks and the watermill was working again, powered by the waterfall and spinning.

"Nice one, Genie!" Ven praised.

"Semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers always do the trick!" Genie grinned, proudly.

Exclaimation marks appeared over the Blot's head in shock and horror, before he glared angrily now at not only Genie, but also Ven and his friends, saying to Ven when he knew that the Genie belonged to the boy, "Insolant fool! You and your friends will pay."

Rather than staying and fight, however, the Blot took the cowardly exit and leaped down to the ground, shoving the others below out of the way before running off while Genie quickly flew down to see if Ven, Mickey, Mushu, Aqua and Terra were alright.

"After him!" Aqua cried out, and her friends didn't argue.

Genie quickly materialized Reddy and soon he and the others got on and flew to stop the Phantom Blot who had reached outside and to their shock and horror, he had a bomb that would cave in the entrance of the Pump Station. Genie quickly used his magic to turn it into a cardboard box, much to the Blot's shock. None the less, he pulled out a jet pack and used it to fly off back to where he left his blimp, leaving a trail of dust that unfortunately slowed Ven and his friends down.

By the time the dust cleared, the group saw that the Blot had already started up the Blimp and had began to float away, towards where they had came from. The group immediately charged, not willing to let him escape before Mickey had an idea.

"The Blot's probably gonna use the bridge if we get rid of this balloon. You fellas head back. I'll catch up!" Mickey told his friends, and once they were close enough, he leaped onto it while using the rolled up sticky-tape he brought with just in case, using it to stick to the side and using it as a rope while his friends, despite their protests, told him to be careful. "Good luck, guys."

"Good bye, you mean." The Phantom Blot suddenly appeared down the rope-ladder beside Mickey who was startled. "Ooh, I like the sound of that."

With that, the Blot kicked Mickey who spun around and around, and used this to his advantage to spin faster and faster around the Blot, turning him into a mummy stuck on the rope-ladder. The Blot escapes though and appeared above Mickey all of the sudden who dodged his attempts to body-slam him and tucked away the tape while hanging onto the ladder, with the Blot nearly falling off before grabbing it again. The Blot tried to punch Mickey who cheekily dodged his attempts, all the while the Blimp just floated on it's own all over the place.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ven, Genie, Aqua, Terra and Mushu made back to the other side of the Bridge before Genie made the attempt to saw the bridge into pieces, only to accidently catapault himself backwards and into the wall, comically crumbling into pieces and unconscious.

"Genie!" Ven cried out, worriedly.

"We have to do something and fast to cut the bridge." Aqua said, worriedly.

"And make sure Mickey's okay." Terra added.

Despite the concern that he may still be able to use his Fire Core, Mushu knew that he had to be everyone's only hope left, saying with determination, "Maybe I can burn the bridge with my fire!"

"But...your Fire Core!" Aqua pointed out.

"I gotta at least try!"

"He's right!" Ven nodded in agreement.

"Is Mickey coming over yet?" Mushu asked, getting himself prepared, and tried some reflexing and twists to get himself ready.

As Ven and the others looked up, the Blimp just came into view from behind the mountain and trees, as Mickey had climbed up using Double-sticked tape underneath his shoes to help him literally walk into the roof of the balloon, much the Phantom Blot's dumbfoundment. None the less, the villian somehow managed to beat him to it. None the less, the determined Mickey Mouse used the tape as a weapon, tossing it and tying the Blot's legs cowboy style, pulled him hard onto the floor.

The impact caused the Blot to be seeing stars and hearing birds briefly. Mickey then ran on top of him before allowing the villian to chase him around and around and around until he tricked the Blot twice by strapping the tape around the podium and using to swing under and over the blimp on both sides, kicking the Blot on the bottom twice as he went.

"I think so...yeah! You better start!" Ven quickly said, while Mickey was busy fighting the Blot.

Mushu tried, he really did. But the Fire Core wasn't working, and he couldn't even think properly with so many things going on in his head. It wasn't until Aqua bend to him.

"Mushu, calm down. Forget what's going on for a moment. Try and concentrate." She advised him once she realised that it was distractions and stress that was causing Mushu's Fire Core to not work, Terra was busy putting Genie back together-literally.

"Forget distractions, and concentrace." Mushu repeated, before realising what his friend was getting at and instead focused on the fire within the Fire Core. The more he thought about the fire, the more he could feel the familiar warmth within him, and then, he let it all out, unleashing an impressive line of fire right into the bridge which was soon quickly engulfed.

Mushu couldn't believe it. He did it! He regained the power of his Fire Core!

"You did it!" Ven cheered.

"I knew you could." Aqua said with relief.

"I did...Yeah, I'm back, baby!" Mushu cheered happily.

* * *

Mickey in the meantime, suddenly realised he used up all of the tape on the item which was now rendered empty. Realising his mistake, he quickly grabbed onto the last bottom of the tape-rope while the roller was falling down into the river of the waterfall below. He then looked up when he heard a noise and to his horror, the Blot was out leaning out from the open window of the blimp, with a pair of sissors, ready to cut the tape that would force Mickey to fall to his death.

"Any last words, Mouse?" The Phantom Blot inquired evilly.

The teenaged Mouse panicked a little, until he noticed something that would make him let go anyway, and that he knew that it would stop the villian at the same time.

"Yep! S'long!" Mickey waved, before letting go and fell.

' _Huh?_ ' The Blot thought in confusion. Why did Mickey willing let go? And what was that mouse looking at? But when he did look to see, he gapped in horror as he realised too late that his Blimp was heading right towards the top of the mountain. Too late to go to the cockpit, the blimp was tilted downward when it hit the top of the mountain and due to the Blimp's engine, it sped downward towards the river and ground with the Blot in it. The entire vessel exploded the moment it crashed into part of the shore and part into the river.

Mickey, however, was in for another problem. He fell screaming, panicking as he silently pleaded for anyone to help him. Just as he thought he was doomed, Ven, Aqua, Terra, Mushu and Genie suddenly appeared on Reddy, as both Ven and Terra caught Mickey by the arms and pulled him to safety.

"Thanks, fellas! Thought I was a goner for a moment there." Mickey said to his friends.

"It's what friends do." Ven reminded with a smirk.

The group shared a laugh before gazing down at the river, relieved that they just solved the problem and stopped another villian from harming Radiant City. Now the water should be flowing normally through out the town.

* * *

While all of this was happening, in the field area not too far from the Pump Station site, Lea, Isa, Donald and Goofy had digged into the ground to find the old fashioned wooden pipes, and Goofy and Isa both voulenteered to check it despite not having much of plumbing skills.

"You guys see anythin'?" Lea called out to the duo as he, Donald and an annoyed Iago knelt from the edge of the hole that was dug up.

"Hmmm...Not sure." Goofy muttered, using a stethoscope he brought with to listen for anything as though trying to listen for the pipe's heart-beat or something. "I can't hear any beating from it."

Isa rolled his eyes while continously looking for a blockage or something within the pipe itself, "Good grief, it's a pipe, not a person or animal with a heart. What's it gonna do; gush up water with a single tap or two to suddenly feel better?" while using a wrech to demostrate slightly.

Not even a second the words escaped from his lips when suddenly Isa and Goofy were both engulfed by a huge gush of water came spewing from the pipe and through it at the same time. The hole was quickly flooded right to the top, and the two teenagers hurriedly tried to swim themselves out. Fortunately, Lea and Donald both hurriedly pulled their nearly-drowned friends out and onto dry land.

"Are you okay?" Donald asked, worriedly.

"Y-*Cough, cough*Yeah. Just took an unexpected dip." Isa replied sarcastically, dripping wet.

Goofy, while squeezing water out from his hat, said to the blue-haired teen, "Hey, ya' just fixed the water system, Isa. Ay-yhuck!"

"I did?" Isa blinked, skeptically.

Lea chuckled, "Don't know how you managed it, man. But ya' fixed the problem."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Iago interrupted, "Can we just cover this mess up so can we get the heck outta here already!?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses." Lea rolled his eyes.

* * *

By the time the four students and Iago who was forced to help this time were done patching up the ground, Ven's group had arrived, their mission completed as well.

"Hey guys." Ven greeted, as he and the others got off Reddy. "You won't believe what happened with us!"

"Yeah, well, you won't believe what happened here either." Lea shrugged, "Somehow, Isa managed to fix the pipe."

"What!?" Mushu and Genie both exclaimed, shocked and annoyed.

"Lea, I don't think I had anything to do with it, for the 14th time already." Isa shook his head.

The redhead shrugged again, "Well, you must've. Or how else did you and Goof' nearly drowned when the water came gushing through?"

"Lea, it was because Genie's the one who fixed it." Aqua scolded slightly in annoyance. "It was caused by a log stopping the water from flowing."

"Wait, what?" Lea asked, eyes wide in confused shock.

"And Mushu got his Fire Core back." Mickey added, smiling. "It's a long story."

"Really?" Iago began, approaching the dragon, "Well, y'know, Dragon-Boy. You're lucky things worked out today."

As the parrot spoke, he was completely unaware that his attitude was only aggrivating Mushu who began to growl in sheer annoyance and anger. That's it. That crossed the line.

"I told you not to let things get to you for the past year and a half." Iago continued, completely oblivious as he turned his back to the dragon, "But would you listen to me? _Noooo_."

"Okay...that does it!" Mushu growled, his nostrils beginning to steam with smoke, as he angrily stomped towards Iago who now noticed the dragon's anger and quickly began to worry.

"Wait, Mushu. What are you doing?" Iago asked, worriedly, backing up scaredly until he realised that he is the one that gives the dragon stress almost constantly, like today for example. He just crossed the line this time, and now he was about to get the taste of flames.

"Calm down." The parrot scaredly advised, before admitting in hopes for forgiveness, "Okay, it was my fault! I'm the one who made you stressed and lose control!"

None the less, Mushu unleashed a large ball of fire right at Iago who was forced to fly upwards, forced into the sky and the flames right at his tail, with the bird screaming, "I'm sorry! There, I said it! Put it out!"

But Mushu didn't stop, and further to Iago's dismay, everyone else didn't interfere. They just watched Iago slowly disappear into the sky, while knowing that he'll be fine and be back. His diginity, however, was questionable.

" _Mushuuuuuuuuuu!_ " Iago yelled which trailed off the moment the flames stopped, but he didn't stop.

They managed to retrieve Iago who learned his lesson not to anger or annoy Mushu anymore than he needs to, before returning home to Radiant City and Ven and Terra called the Turks to retrieve and arrest the Phantom Blot who survived but was put into jail.

Despite things had returned to normal for the students of Radiant Academy, who knows when the next adventure will be or what will happen next. Only time will tell.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: The Phantom Blot is an evil character who appears in the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comics, Ducktales for a couple of episodes, one episode of Mickey Mouse Works, and a couple of episodes in the House of Mouse. He's more of a serious but comical character.**

 **See you in the next adventure in the next chapter!**


	5. Episode 5: There's no Place like Home

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: I've been driving myself nuts on how the fifth episode of the third season would turn out as I have other ideas I wanna do for this story, but due to episode 2 and then some, it's too early for those and I don't wanna spoil the surprises.**

 **Finally, the memory of the Rugrats episode "There's No Place Like Home"(one of my favorites as a child) came into mind.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 5: There's no Place like Home.

Things were a bit worrying today in Radiant Academy. In the middle of the night at the Academy, Kairi woke up crying as her throat was suddenly painful. So Dr. Rai, discovering that the poor five year old had to have her tonsils removed, was taken to hospital where the operation to remove them would take place the next day.

Aqua came with to comfort her, and told Kairi that Sora, Riku, Ven and almost everyone else would come to visit before the operation. To add to her 'bravery' she was gifted with teddy bear slippers by the staff members.

"How are you feeling, Kairi?" Aqua asked gently, as she sat on the edge of Kairi's bed.

"A little scared." Kairi admitted, shuddering. In truth, she was terrified of the idea of having her tonsils removed. She had no idea what would it be like and she knew that it wasn't something she'd want to see. So many strangers that would surround her during the operation and that terrified her even more. To make things worse, the possibility of being unable to speak ever again if something went wrong.

"It'll be okay. You remember that when this is all over..."

"I get to eat ice cream as much as I want." Kairi finished for Aqua who gently patted her on the head in a motherly way.

It was at that moment when the doors opened, admitting a brown-haired woman with a loose ponytail in a white coat and a notepad, wearing a blue shirt and darker blue skirt and black high-heels. Her name was Dr. Lucrecia Cresent, one of the local doctors of the Radiant Hospital. Behind her were Ven, Terra, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Sora, Riku, Yuffie, Roxas, Xion, Namine, Mushu and Iago. To their surprise, Arlene and Elena were there as well, along with Tifa, Aerith, Cloud, Zack, Reno and Rude.

"Hi, Kairi!" Sora greeted in relief, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you for coming, guys." Kairi nodded, feeling a little better already that all of her friends had come for a visit.

Iago, who had a bandage on his tail and looking quite annoyed, "Yeah, you'll be fine in no time flat. Me on the other hand, I'm still grounded for _another_ week! It's torture!" he cried out dramatically, which resulted in having most of the group roll their eyes while the seven younger children shook their heads or giggled.

"Iago, it's only been four days. Dr. Rai said that you'll be flying again next week, and that's three days away." Ven reminded.

It's been four days since the Water Pipe incident and that Mushu, out of sheer anger, had nearly roasted Iago. The result was that he ended up spraining his tail and thus was grounded from flight for a week.

" _Four days_ is as bad as Kairi having her toenails removed!" Iago pointed out incorrectedly.

"It's her _tonsils_ , not her toenails." Mushu corrected, while glaring at the bird. He had cooled off after what he did, but he was still greatly annoyed with his friend, but did promise himself not to let stress get to him again as he'd been working on keeping up with his Fire Core.

"Even so. How much worse can it be than being nearly cooked!?" Iago argued, crossing his wings at his chest.

"Annnnnnnd they're arguin' again." Lea sighed dramatically, deciding that now was the time to ignore the bird and the dragon's bickering and focus on cheering little Kairi up. The others nodded in agreement, coming with the same idea as the redhead.

Mickey then handed Kairi a stuffed toy dog which, surprisingly, looked just like Pluto but in a blue colour, saying to the little girl, "Here ya' go, Kairi. I know it's not really Pluto since dogs aren't allowed in hospitals, so, Genie and I made ya this instead."

"He's so cute! Thank you, Mickey." Kairi said happily, hugging her new toy dog which she named Pluto. Jr, or Pluto for short.

"You can also burrow my doll. She used to keep me company on scary nights when I was your age." Minnie added, handing Kairi a blond-haired doll in a pink dress.

"Ay-yhuck! And a flash light too, just in case." Goofy added, giving Kairi a red flash-light.

"How's a flash-light gonna help matters?" Isa asked, skeptically.

Almost everyone gifted Kairi with their own gifts to make her feel better which she thanked them. Arlene tried to sing a song, but she sounded really bad which didn't help matters. It came to the point where Elena had to tell her cousin to be quiet, much to the other blonde-haired woman's annoyance.

That's when Kairi began to sniffle, concerning everyone.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Tifa asked, concerned.

"I'm really scared." Kairi finally admitted, "I wanna be better but...what if...what if I won't be able to talk anymore?" placing a hand to her throat.

Everyone got what she meant; Kairi was terrified that she could very well lose her ability to talk, and that, they all agreed that it was a scary thought.

"Well, you could always have Iago here do the translating and do your voice for you." Arlene teased, smirking, "You'd make a perfect dummy."

"Arlene!" Elena scolded, glaring at her cousin angrily.

"Seriously, that's not cool." Reno grunted, also glaring at Arlene.

"But I don't wanna be a dummy!" Kairi cried out, horrified.

"Don't listen to her. She's making things up!" Yuffie said, trying to make her best friend feel better.

"Don't sweat it, Kai'." Lea said, smiling gently as he rubbed the five year old little redhead on the head, "Worse case scenario here is that your throat will be a little bit sore for a while. Before you know it, it'll be back to normal."

"You talk as though you're speaking from experience." Cloud said, skeptically.

Lea flinched, before shifting a bit uncomfortably, "Yeah, well...after you had to go to the dentist after biting a rock disguised as an apple by Pete, you'd have a sore mouth or throat for a little while too." (As known back in episode 20 of Life FAR from Normal)

"Won't I feel or see it, though?" Kairi asked, uncertain.

"Nah. You'll be asleep while they're at it, so you won't even notice. It's the aftermath that's annoying. When you wake up afterwards, I mean." Reno answered with a shrug.

"That's what you people say, but we don't know if it'll actually be that." Arlene said in a sing-song tone.

"Okay, that's it. We're out." Elena said, annoyed. She then grabbed Arlene by the arm and pulled her away from the others and out of the room all together, but not before giving promising goodbye to Kairi, "You will be alright, Kairi sweetie. See you later."

"Let go of my arm, Elena! I still have to pay you and the others back for the Halloween humilation! And that includes Ms. Farron and Tseng!" Arlene was yelling.

"I'd like to see you try." The younger-ish blonde retorted.

Zack sighed, "Boy oh boy. If Arlene tries to get revenge on Tseng and Ms. Farron for that, she's got another thing coming."

"You'll be okay, Kairi. Try and think of happy things to get your mind off it." Ven advised.

"Okay." Kairi nodded, but still having her doubts.

When Dr. Cresent announced that visit time was over, reluctantedly, the group said their brief goodbyes to Kairi even though Sora wanted to linger for a little longer as he gave her a blue cloth with a star symbol on it, saying that it was his good luck charm before Mickey returned to take him with the others, giving Kairi a gentle kiss to make her feel better.

Once the visitors were gone into the waiting room, Lucrecia expertly and gently jabbed the Sleeping needle into Kairi's left arm as the little girl looked away to avoid in seeing the scary needle go into her arm briefly before it slid out and a bandaid was placed onto the tiny wound.

As the doctors left for a few minutes, Kairi hugged the toy dog she imagined as Pluto, saying, "I don't wanna be here in the hospital, Pluto. It's too scary. Maybe the doctors can take us home if I ask."

But as she made to get out of bed, she was suddenly feeling quite dizzy and sleepy, which caused Kairi to collaspe back onto the bed. She didn't know what it was or what was going on, but the next thing she knew as she stared up at the children's rooms sky-painted ceiling, she was fast asleep.

* * *

When Kairi opened her eyes, she suddenly found herself still in bed, but the said bed was actually flying in the sky, passing clouds and mountains, much to her confusion. Where was she? And why was the bed flying?

Suddenly a dog's bark got her attention, and Kairi was further surprised to see Pluto there, licking her face which made her giggle. As they passed, they noticed familiar and yet unfamiliar faces floating in the sky as well, waving at her. So she waved at them in return.

Then, to her fear, a woman that is identical to Arlene appeared who flies by on a green dragon, laughing evilly. The impact she caused when she flew away causes Kairi, Pluto and the bed to fall to the ground, with Kairi screaming and bracing herself with Mickey's dog who covered his eyes, whimpering.

Fortunately, the bed landed with at thud, and Kairi and Pluto were both okay. The two sat up, looking around at their new surroundings of a colourful village with flowers that looked like candy, a yellow tile road leading to the field hills outside of the village, and play sets from a children's park.

"Um...I don't think we're in the hospital anymore, Pluto." Kairi muttered to the dog, who tilted his head slightly to the side, equally confused.

Just then, on a floating cloud, to Kairi's surprise, a person who looked just like Lea appeared, standing there with a smile.

"Hey there." 'Lea' greeted with a smirk. "Welcome to Tonsil Land. I'm Lea, the Good Magican. Got it memorized?" tapping the side of his head. He then called out, "Tonsilies! Come say hello to our visitors."

Soon, a bunch of children around Kairi's age, including those who looked like her friends; Sora, Riku, Yuffie, Roxas, Xion, Namine, Tidus and Yuna came out from behind all over the place, laughing happily as they gathered around Kairi's bed.

"You all seem really happy." Kairi said with a shy smile.

"Of course we are! The bed crashed onto the mean witch." 'Sora' said smiling, pointing at underneath the bed which Kairi and Pluto didn't notice until now, as crinkled legs of a person was sticking out in an very awkward position, wearing teddy bear slippers.

This caught Lea's attention, as he asked, "Wait, what?" and as he walked around to see for himself from the other side, he let out an impressed whistle, "Whoa, there. Ya' did a real number on her."

"I'm sorry!" Kairi cried out, apologetically. "I didn't mean to!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down. No need to worry." Lea assured her, "That witch Selene was a real pain in the throat. Her singing-which if that's you wanna call it-was enough to give anybody a headache."

"Yeah, but now we don't have to worry about her anymore." 'Riku' said, smiling.

"Thanks for saving us!" 'Yuffie', 'Tidus', 'Roxas', 'Xion' and 'Namine' cheered happily as they all danced around.

But then the celebration came to a quick halt as all of the sudden, out of a cloud of dust, another person appeared which shocked everyone in the area as the woman which Kairi thought was Arlene appeared, coughing.

"It's Arlene the Lightbulb Witch!" 'Yuna' cried out fearfully.

"That's Lightning Witch, you little brat!" Arlene half-shouted angrily, while pointing at the legs of the remains of Selene, "Who crushed my sister?"

Scared for their own safeties, the Tonsilies quickly pointed at Kairi who shrank back a little while Pluto growled at Arlene who glared them both, before demanding, "Well then, who will pay for it and become my dummy?" pointing at the Tonsilies before pointing at the frightened Kairi, "Perhaps you! You'll make a perfect dummy!"

"But I don't wanna be a dummy!" Kairi cried out, scared.

"Hey, ya'know. I think those slippers look better on the new kid than either of you, Arlene." Lea quickly spoke up.

"Says who?" Arlene demanded, while realising what her worst enemy was pointing at the slippers of her fallen, or in this case, squashed sister. She quickly made to grab them, but Lea snapped his fingers which by his magic, made the slippers disappear, then they reappeared on Kairi's feet, as she gently touched her new shoes with her hands.

"Says me." The redhead said with a smirk. Kairi flinched away when Arlene demanded for them, which gave Lea a chance to whisper to her, "Look, whatever you do, _don't_ take them off. Unless you wanna spend the rest of your life on her lap."

"Ugh!" Arlene grunted angrily, before growling, "Fine! Keep them for all I care! But I will get you for this! I'll be back!" before vanishing in sparks of electricity.

"...I really don't like Arlene." Tidus grumbled.

Kairi sniffled, "I wanna go home. How can I leave?"

"You can ask the magic Wizard at the Light Castle." 'Xion' suggested.

"Can't Lea help me?" Kairi pointed, only to find that Lea had just disappeared all of the sudden. That annoyed her. So much for asking for his help. Sighing in defeat, she asked the Tonsilies, "Where can I find the Wizard?"

"Follow the yellow tiles." 'Sora' gestured at the road, along with his fellow Tonsilies.

Taking the hint, Kairi and Pluto did so and thanked the Tonsilies, leaving the village behind to begin their quest to seek out the Wizard to return home and avoid Arlene the Lightning Witch at all costs.

* * *

As Kairi and Pluto passed by a log, they noticed a fellow that looked just like Mickey who was pacing back and forth, and a small yellow bear about two inches shorter than him, wearing a red shirt, and tapping the side of his head.

Pluto, upon seeing Mickey, barked happily and ran over towards him, catching him off-guard and playfully licked him on the face.

"Whoa! Hey! Ha-ha! That tickles!" Mickey cried out, laughing while trying to get the dog to settle down, which got the small bear's attention as well.

"What tickles, exactly?" The bear asked, seemingly dim-witted, as he was obviously a bear with a very little brain.

"Pluto's saying hello." Kairi said as she approached. "Is there something wrong?" she then asked when she had noticed Mickey's pacing and the bear's thinking.

"Well, hah, we were both thinkin' on some things." Mickey replied, before saying, "Gosh, you must be new around here. I'm Mickey."

"And I'm Winnie the Pooh. Pooh for short." Pooh added, before asking, "Who are you?"

"My name's Kairi." Kairi replied with a smile.

"Hi-ya, Kairi!" Mickey greeted.

"Oh, hello, Kairi." Pooh greeted as well, before asking, "Are you going somewhere?"

"I'm trying to find my way home. I'm going to see the magic Wizard at the Light Castle." Kairi replied, "What about you two?"

Mickey shrugged, worriedly, "I wanna go explore the land of giants above, but I don't know how to get there. Well, I do, but I don't have any magic beans."

Just then, Pooh's belly made an adorable belly, which made the bear add, "And I'm hungry, and I'd like some honey. Even just a small smackeral." before pulling out a honey pot out of nowhere, only to find it empty, much to his dismay. "Oh, bother. No honey left."

Kairi felt sorry for both of them. They reminded her of herself and that she wanted to go home. Suddenly, an idea came into mind. "Hey, maybe the Wizard can give you Magic Beans and some Honey." She suggested.

"Gosh, really?" Mickey asked, hopefully.

"Like a little more small smackeral?" Pooh added, equally hopeful.

"Yeah!" Kairi nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Pluto echoed, nodding.

"Hot dog!" Mickey cheered.

"Then's let go!" Pooh chuckled, before pointing at the field behind him, asking in confusion, "Could the Wizard be...that way, perhaps?"

Kairi giggled, "We need to follow the yellow tiles."

"That way, perhaps?" Pooh asked again, pointing forward this time.

Mickey shook his head, pointing at the road to his left, "Oh, silly old bear. It's this way." taking the lead with Kairi and Pluto following.

"Oh, my, yes. Of course." Pooh chuckled, following his newfound friends down the road to the Light Castle.

* * *

A while later, Kairi, Pluto, Mickey and Pooh continued following the road and entered a dull forest that was a little creepy, but it didn't faze them much at all. In fact, they stopped by a vending machine where juices in boxes behind the glass sat in...how a juice vending machine got there in the forest, I have no idea.

"I'm really thirsty." Kairi muttered.

"Whoa!" A voice called out from behind them. When Kairi and her friends spun around to see what was doing on, a teenage boy that looked like Ven came falling out from the trees, with a duck that looked like Donald, a small tigger and a small donkey just seconds behind and all four of them were in a small pile.

"Whoops." 'Ven' muttered, grunting a little.

"Aw phooey!" 'Donald' groaned. "Now we don't know where to go!"

"It's not all that bad." The small Tigger said, "The point is, we're all here; even Eeyore, despite not having his tail."

"Thanks for noticin'." The donkey, named Eeyore, who didn't have a tail, said in a gloomy expression.

"Golly, are you okay?" Mickey asked, worriedly as he and the others approached the four who slowly got off of each other and stood up.

"Never any better, Mousey boy!" The tiger said, before introducing himself, "Hello there! I'm Tigger! T-I-double-guh-RR. That spells Tigger!"

"What are you doing up the tree?" Kairi asked, confused.

Ven shrugged, saying, "Well, see, our friend Eeyore lost his tail and we thought we could find it if it was somewhere else outside the forest. It was really Tigger's idea."

"And he had to bounce around while we were at it." Donald added, glaring at Tigger, who shrugged cluelessly.

"Why did you bounce, Tigger?" Pooh asked, confused.

"Why? 'Cause it's what Tigger's do best! Hoo-Hoo-Hoo!" Tigger laughed, before he bounced around on his tail that acted as a spring that made him bounce all over the place, before stopping as he admitted, "Though, I guess my bouncin' didn't help in finding Donkey-Boy's tail."

"It's not much of a tail, but I was sort of attacted to it." Eeyore said, gloomily.

"Aw, I wish we could help." Mickey said, feeling sorry for Eeyore, and Kairi, Pluto and Pooh nodded in agreement.

"Maybe the Magic Wizard can help you find your tail, Eeyore." Kairi suggested as an idea came into mind.

"The Magic Wizard?" Ven asked, blinking.

"Does he bounce?" Tigger asked, hopefully.

"Can he really help us find Eeyore's tail?" Donald asked.

"Yeah!" Kairi nodded, "I'm going there to find my way home."

"I'm goin' there to ask if I can go to the Land of Giants." Mickey added.

"And I'm...Hmmm, what was I going there for, exactly?" Pooh asked, confused as, due to having a little brain, he couldn't even remember why he was going to the Light Castle.

Mickey shook his head, answering, "You wanted to get some Honey, remember?"

Thinking about it, Pooh then finally remembered and chuckled, "Oh, yes! Now I remember."

"Honey? Yyyuck!" Tigger cringed.

"What's wrong with that?" Kairi asked, confused.

"Tiggers do not like honey!" Tigger replied, sounding disgusted.

"Hmm, well I'm sure you don't have to have any." Mickey pointed out, "Besides, maybe there's something for you, Ven and Donald too, Tigger."

"Well, what are we waitin' for!? Let's go! Hoo-hoo-hoo!" Tigger declared happily.

"Yeah!" Ven nodded in agreement.

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Donald said happily.

"Thanks for helping me to find my tail." Eeyore said to Kairi and the others.

* * *

Joined by Ven, Tigger, Donald and Eeyore, Kairi, Mickey, Pluto and Pooh continued onward, eventually leaving the forest and find themselves in the fields, with another forest next to them. Through the woods on the other side, they could see a merry-go-round ride with music playing.

"Say, that looks lotsa fun!" Tigger thought, before adding, "But not as fun as bouncin'!"

"I love the Merry-Go-Round!" Kairi squeeled happily.

"Me too. Ay-yhuck!" Another voice spoke. The group turned to see a figure that was identical to Goofy, along with a small little pig wearing a black and darker pink suit, and a yellow rabbit.

"I-I'm not sure if it is fun. W-What if-if it's dangerous like the woods?" The little Piglet asked.

"Oh, don't be silly, Piglet. It's not like there's anything in there." The rabbit pointed out.

"What is the matter?" Pooh asked to Piglet.

Piglet, shivering at the strangers right there, admitted, "Well, I-I'm scared of a lot of things. I mean, a dark scary forest is not a place for a small animal."

"Well, now that you mention it." Tigger said, thoughtfully, "The forest could have Heffalumps and Woozles hidin'."

"You mean Elephants and Weasels?" Kairi asked, confused.

"That's what I said. Heffalumps and Woozles!" Tigger replied, before saying somewhat spookily, while getting spooked out himself, "They steal honey."

"Steal honey!?" Pooh exclaimed, shocked. "Oh bother. Maybe that's why my honey pots are empty so suddenly lately."

"Oh, d-d-d-dear! How am I gonna be brave when there are Heffalumps and Woozles?" Piglet thought, fearfully.

"Hmm...maybe those Heffy-lumps and Woozles stole my hat too." Goofy thought, as his favorite green hat was missing.

"And my wheel-burrow to harvest my vegetables." Rabbit added, worriedly.

"Hey, maybe the Light Wizard to help all three of you." Donald suggested.

"Will he?" Goofy, Piglet and Rabbit asked in unison.

Kairi nodded, "He could. I'm going there to find my way home."

"I'm goin' there to find a way to go to the Land of Giants." Mickey added.

"I'm going there for a small smackeral for Honey." Pooh added.

"And we're going to ask where Eeyore's tail is." Ven concluded, with Donald and Tigger nodding to confirm it.

"Even though I'll probably lose it again." Eeyore sighed, glumly.

"Sure! We can all go." Goofy decided, with his two companions nodding in agreement.

Mickey smiled happily, "Hot dog! C'mon, fellas! To the Wizard of Tonsil-Land!"

* * *

It wasn't long before Kairi and her new friends arrived at the hill where they saw, in the distance not to far from where they were, a glittering white castle almost made of Light shinging beautifully. They all instantly knew that their journey was almost over.

"There it is! The Light Castle!" Kairi exclaimed happily. She was almost there. Her way back home was closer, along with the wishes of her friends around her.

"Oh my! It's magnificent." Rabbit thought, awed.

"Wizard of Light Castle, here we come!" Tigger said happily.

The group began running through the field of flowers now that the road was finished. But halfway there, they skid to a stop when an evil laughter of someone familiar was heard over them, and when they looked up, Kairi and her friends gasped in shock and horror, Arlene was flying on her green dragon, smiling evilly.

"Did you really think you can get away from me, little girl? Kya-hahahahaha!" Arlene laughed.

"Oh, d-d-dear!" Piglet cried out, hiding behind Pooh, trembling in fright.

"Look! It's Arlene the Lightbulb Witch!" Goofy cried out, horrified.

"Without the Lightbulb part." Tigger whispered to Pluto who whimpered.

"It's _Lightning Witch_ , you idiots!" Arlene shouted angrily.

"At least it's not a Jagular." Pooh thought, "Because I don't think Arlene the Lightbulb Witch would drop on us like Jagulars do."

"Don't give her any ideas." Eeyore told him.

"What're you doin' here, Arlene?" Mickey demanded.

Arlene cackled, "There's no way I'm letting any of you get near the Wizard. Especially the little brat you're with! Time to say buh-bye!" and with a flick of her wrist and sparks of small electricity, the flowers beneath Kairi and her friends vanished, instantly turning millions of giant balls of different colour, which the group slowly began to sink into, almost like quick sand. During this time, Arlene vanished.

"Oh bother!" Pooh cried out, worriedly.

"Kairi!" Ven cried out, immediately grabbing the nearly gone girl, but was already nearly chest way down into the balls.

"Uh oh!" Mickey cried out, fearfully.

"Sinking?" Eeyore asked, before he deadpanned, "Figures."

Rabbit was panicking hysterically, despite saying to everyone, "D-don't panic! E-Everyone do not panic! Oh! My goodness!"

"What're we gonna do!?" Donald screamed hysterically.

"Someone help us!" Kairi cried out, nearly into tears.

"Hold on! I'm a-comin'!" A familiar and welcoming voice echoed from above. Everyone looked up to see Lea in a hot-air balloon, and with a snap of his fingers, the balls instantly disappeared into fire, and thankfully didn't burn the group. Instead, the ground returned to normal and soon Kairi and her friends were on the path in front of the castle, which was made out of cusions that made all of them bounce up and down like a trampelione.

"Ay-yhuck! Cusiony!" Goofy thought as he bounced.

"Hoo-hoo-hoo! Now this is bouncin'!" Tigger cheered happily.

"Thank you, Lea!" Kairi called up as she and the others waved while Lea winked as he floated away in the hot-air balloon.

"Thanks for noticin'." Eeyore added.

"We're almost at the Castle!" Ven said, pointing at the castle in front of them. "Let's go!"

The group bounced the rest of the way to the front wooden door of the Light Castle and finally stopped bouncing, which was admittedly a lot of fun. Ven, being the tallest, politely knocked on the door and stood waiting with his friends. They didn't have to wait long, as the doors opened to reveal an Owl about the same height as Pooh, Rabbit and Tigger.

"Why, hello! Welcome to the Light Castle." Owl greeted, gesturing the group to come in. "How may I help you?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Owl. Is the Wizard of Light Castle here? My friends and I want to see him." Kairi politely inquired.

"Of course he is! He is here everyday! Nice fellow! Very powerful, and-"

"Yes, yes. Thank you. We would like to see the Wizard now, if you please." Rabbit kindly interrupted.

"Oh, yes. Of course. This way, please." Owl gestured to the group who smiled happily, following the Owl through the hallway which was just as beautiful as the castle was on the outside.

However, as they made their way into the glorious throne chamber room, everyone was shocked and horrified as many children were shivering in fear, and on the throne, instead of the Magic Wizard as Owl, Kairi and the others were expecting, in front of the throne, was none other than Arlene who was laughing evilly.

"Did you really think you were going to find the Wizard here? Well, too bad! Because this is my turf now!" Arlene declared evilly.

"Arlene the Lightbulb Witch!" Owl gasped, horrified.

"Without the Lightbulb part." Eeyore said, gloomy as usual.

Arlene became furious at this point, "It's _LIGHTNING WITCH!_ How many times do I have to tell everyone that!?" before unleashing a powreful surge of a lightning bolt right at the group.

"Look out!" Ven cried out, grabbing Kairi and shoved her and himself out of the way, as did everyone else while Mickey and Goofy both picked up Pooh and Piglet, moving them as well as themselves out of the way. The lightning bolt missed it's targets and instead sourched a burnt mark on the crystal tile floor.

"Hold still, you pipsqueaks! Especially, you! How else am I gonna make you my new dummy, for pete's sake!?" Arlene shouted, starting to throw a temper tantrum.

"I'm not a dummy and I don't wanna be a dummy!" Kairi shouted, having enough of being afraid of Arlene's tricks, as she stood up and glared at the evil witch.

Finding the little girl's yelling amusing, Arlene cackled, "Oooh! Trying to be big and tough, huh? How cute!"

"I-I'm not scared of you, Arlene." Kairi stuttered, taking a couple of steps back as Arlene was preparing to attack again.

Her friends, seeing her bravery, realised that she was standing up to the witch despite being at the advantage. They glanced at each other before Piglet, realising that Kairi was very important in their short time together, rushed over and stood in front of Kairi, his arms spread out while glaring at Arlene who paused, puzzled.

"I'm not letting you hurt Kairi, you mean old witch!" Piglet declared, finding courage he never felt before.

"Neither am I!" Mickey quickly joined in.

"Or me!" Pooh added.

"Neither are we!" Ven concluded, as he, Tigger, Rabbit, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and even Eeyore joined in, standing to protect the little five year old girl who had quickly became their close friend.

"Stand back, Lightnin'-Lady! Or I'll bounce on ya'!" Tigger warned.

Rather than imidated, Arlene just laughed, "Playing it tough, huh? Well then, you all make perfect dummies!"

"Not if I can help it, Lighty!" A new voice called from above.

When everyone looked for the source above, a Meerkat wearing a pointy hat and a blue rope was handing from the rope of the ceiling, sliding down before reaching Arlene's level, grinning.

"By the way, I take a shower almost everyday. Can you?" The Meerkat(Timon) teased, before pulling at the rope and a bucket of water appeared above Arlene's head. To the witch's shock and horror, it tipped upside down and the water came falling on top of her, soaking her and causing her to scream as her body cracked with electricity.

"No! Nooo! I'm cracking! I'm craaaaackiiiiiing!" Arlene screamed as she tried to cover herself, but it was already too late as she suddenly exploded into nothing while everyone looked away, shielding their eyes. When the light stopped, the group looked hesitatedly and saw that Arlene was gone.

In her place, was a single light-bulb on the ground...and to their surprise, Arlene had shrunk down to size, and every time she tried to use her powers to break free, all it did was light up the Lightbulb.

"Hmm, guess not." Timon shrugged, smugly.

"Looks like Arlene really is the Lightbulb Witch." Goofy said while gazing at the viewers/readers, having broken the fourth wall as he laughed.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here, Master!" Owl sighed in relief, before asking in annoyance, "Where were you?"

Timon shrugged as he landed safely onto the ground, "Sorry. I had to finish my lunch." pulling out a blue small beetle from his pockets, adding, "And a little snack." tossing it into his mouth and munched away.

"Eeeew!" Kairi, Ven, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore and Pluto all cringed in disgust.

"Hold on." Ven suddenly realised what Owl had said, asking, "So you're..."

"That's right, kid. I, am the Magic Wizard." Timon replied, proudly.

"I was expectin' ya to be taller...and bouncer." Tigger said, disappointed.

"So...you can't really help us, can you?" Ven sighed.

"Hold your horses." Timon quickly said, "I know why you all came here in the first place, so of course I can help you!"

"How did you _really_ know?" Rabbit asked, skeptically while crossing his arms.

"Wait and see." Timon told him, before whistling loudly. In a poof of magic, a Warthog(Pumbaa) appeared with a large wardrobe behind him. "Step right up and go right ahead!"

"Uh...Timon?" Pumbaa muttered, a little sheepishly.

"What is it?" Timon sighed, wondering what in the wide world his assistant and friend had done wrong this time. Whenever Pumbaa said that in the beginning of a sentence, it was never a good sign.

"I lost the keys to the Wardrobe." The Warthog grinned apologetically.

Seeing this and while grately shocked, Timon slumped in annoyance and defeat, before snapping his fingers which made the lock of the doors vanish and the said doors open themselves, which amazed Kairi and her friends. Mickey went up to it and was quite amazed at how much space there was on the inside and everything that he and the others had wished for were in fact in there.

"Wow! It's got everythin'!" Mickey cried out happily, handing out items of everyone's desires, "Magic Beans to grow a Beanstalk, a large pot of Honey, Eeyore's Tail, a large Wheel burrow, a Pogo Stick, a Flash Light, a badge for bravery, a hat for Goofy, and a sailor's uniform."

While the others were happily contenting to their new values, Kairi, feeling left out, approached Mickey and asked, "Mickey...is there something for me?"

Quickly realising that Kairi's wish is still yet to be sastified, Mickey checked the wardrobe again, but to his and everyone else's sadness, he sighed before apologetically said to the little girl, "Nope. Sorry, Kairi."

"I guess I'm not going home after all..." Kairi said, heart-broken and saddened, feeling the urge to cry. She would never see her family or friends again, or go home to Radiant Academy. The sight of her so sad broke everyone else's hearts.

"Aww, don't cry, Kairi." Mickey said, giving the distraughted child a comforting hug. "You could always stay here. We'll look after ya'."

"Yeah." Ven added, "I can be your big brother, if you want."

"We can share some honey, if you'd like a small smackeral." Pooh added.

"We can go bouncin' together." Tigger added.

"Read stories together." Rabbit added.

"And build houses made out of sticks." Eeyore said, gloomier than ever.

"And have fun at the Merry-Go-Round." Goofy added.

"And sailing." Donald added.

"And share the Flash-light if you get scared of the dark." Piglet concluded.

Kairi sniffled, and despite having the support of her friends she made and who most of them reminded her of her friends at home, it did give her support, but unfortunately did nothing to make her feel better. "T-Thank you, everyone." She said, before crying, too distraughted.

"Hey, hey! Don't go jumpin' to conclusions!" Timon quickly said, approaching the group. "Kid, you had the way home all the along."

"Huh? Really?" Kairi asked, sniffling.

"Wait, you mean you didn't know?" Timon asked, incrediously.

"Know what?" Mickey asked, now confused, along with everyone else.

Seeing how the group was clueless, Timon slapped himself on the head in disbelief, "Oi! I thought Lea would've told ya!"

"Did I hear my name mentioned?" Lea's voice echoed, before he suddenly appeared in the dust of cloud. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Care to explain why you didn't tell Kairi here right from the start? The poor kid's cryin' her eyes out!" Timon scolded.

The redhead, blinking in surprise, realised what happened before groaning, exasperated. He then turned to Kairi and said, "I can't believe you haven't even figured out the main reason why I gave you those slippers in the first place."

"What!?" Everyone else asked, clearly annoyed.

"But how can the slippers help me get home?" Kairi asked, more than a little annoyed that Lea didn't tell her this in the first place. It would've saved her all the trouble in coming here. On the other hand, she realised, if she knew, she never would've made new friends or helped them make their wishes come true. It was sort of worth the effort.

"Just look underneath the slippers, Kai'." Lea instructed.

The little girl as she was advised, and to her surprise, the left slipper was revealed to be a phone. Realising what she has to do, Kairi slid it off and dialed a phone number she automatically knew, and held it to her ear, where it rang twice before someone answered.

" _Hello?_ "

"Aqua?" Kairi asked, hopefully.

" _Kairi? Is that you? Kairi...Kairi..._ "

* * *

Kairi could repeatedly hear Aqua's voice speaking her name and the more she heard it, the more it became clear, as light filled her vision, before everything returned to focus. She felt really sleepy, her throat suddenly felt a bit sore, she felt as though she was lying in bed, and was somehow waking up.

And to her relief, Aqua hovered gently over her, repeating, "Kairi...Come on, sweetie."

Finally, Kairi woke up from what she realised was a dream. The entire adventure in Tonsil-Land was a dream, while she had been asleep during the operation. Relief and happiness filled her. Around her bed as she was back in the children's recovery room, were all of her friends; Ven, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Lea, and everyone else who visited her earlier.

"How are you feeling?" Aqua asked, softly.

"My throat's a bit sore." Kairi replied, sounding all raspy.

"Here's some juice and ice cream to soothe it, sweet heart." Lucrecia, who was also there, offered a tray with the said offerings.

Kairi, nodded, before saying, "I had the strangest dream." adding as she gazed at Ven, Lea, Mickey, Donald and Goofy, "You guys were there."

"If that's how people react to operations, then I sure don't wanna have any strange dreams while having that!" Iago said, shaking his head. "Bad enough that I get strange dreams once every blue moon!"

"Hey, hey, shh! The kid just woke up, so keep it down." Mushu advised.

"So, what was the dream about?" Arlene smirked.

Kairi, carefully due to the sore throat, replied, "You were there too, Arlene..." giggling, "Everybody called you a Lightbulb."

"A LIGHTBULB!?" Arlene shrieked, outraged. "You dremn't that I was a Lightbulb!?"

Everyone else tried so hard not to laugh at this revolation, despite that hearing Kairi say this was one of the most funniest things they ever heard. Annoyed, Arlene pouted before storming out of the room, declaring, "I'll see you all back at Radiant Academy!"

"I don't know what the rest of the dream was all 'bout, but man, Kairi! Dreaming of Arlene as a Lightbulb is priceless!" Lea snickered.

"I could just imagine her inside a lightbulb." Elena giggled, along with Tifa and Aerith.

"Are you gonna be okay, Kairi?" Sora asked, curiously.

Kairi nodded, "I won't be talking much for a while. But I'm glad to be home."

Mickey smiled, saying, "Gosh, you can tell us about the dream later. We're all happy that you'll be just fine."

"See? I told ya you'd only notice in the aftermath and that you'd be fine." Reno said with a smile.

"Thank you, Mickey. Thank you, Reno. Thank you, Lea. You're really sweet." Kairi smiled, which while Mickey chuckled happily, seeing how both redheads blushed in sheer embarrassment by this comment made her giggle.

Cloud then couldn't help but jokingly said, "Too bad nothing can bring out Arlene's tonsils to leave her voice sore for a while." which made everyone laugh at this.

One thing Kairi was certain off, though, even though she missed her friends like Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit and Tigger who were just in her dreams...There was no place like home.

* * *

Outside of the hospital, witnessing these events were Timon and Pumbaa who both smiled emotionally as they'd been curious on what was happening.

"Awww!" Pumbaa cooed, feeling touched. "Look how happy everyone is in there, Timon."

"You said it, Pumbaa." Timon nodded, before adding as he grinned, "And to give those kids and their friends a bit of a sweet revenge on Arlene, she can enjoy her time screaming, being chase, by a bunch of chickens!"

As the two friends walked away knowingly, Arlene's screams could be heard as she suddenly appeared around the corner, screaming her head off while being chased by a flock of fifty chickens, with their feathers both flying off them and also landing onto the humilated woman.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: I just had to add a little something onto Arlene since I'm not much of a big fan of her. See you in the next chapter, and I hope that you liked this one too.**


	6. Episode 6: A bit of a BIG problem-Part 1

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Sorry that this is late again. Having a bit of trouble in how the next episode of the third season would be turning out, and if you're reading this, Pokeball645, I completed "Sailor Moon: Spirits Within" and intend of updating both "Kingdom Hearts 3: Second War" and "Case of Team Rocket" at some point...probably not until either next year or next month as well as begin new ones again.**

 **Without further delay, here it is. Oh, by the way, a special Kingdom Hearts character will make an appearence here and possibly in the next chapter which will be a slight cross-over with a future midquel to one of my other series.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 6: A bit of a BIG problem-Part 1.

A couple of weeks had passed since Kairi had her tonsils removed and after a good long rest, the five year old girl had recovered and things relatively returned to normal at Radiant Academy. Genie had gone off to visit Eden for a few days for a date, which Ven and the others praised as they were happy for their friend. In the meantime, so far, things has been peaceful and quiet and not a single wacky thing happened.

Of course, we all know that it wouldn't last long...and it all started on this day. First, it began with one of the certain redheads who was busy trying not to die...figuretively.

"Ah! No! NO! Faster! Faster! C'mon! AHHH! NOOOO!" Lea cried out...before tossing his controller of his video game system onto the floor in frustration as he groaned when the screen of his TV turned dark with red blood words appeared slowly, saying 'Game Over'.

"Stupid Dahaka. Always too friggin' fast for me!" Lea complained before lying on his back of his bed, with Isa and Iago sitting next to him with looks of boredom and acknowlagement, and in Iago's case, annoyance. But what else is new?

You see, Lea has bought a new PS3 system and has managed to get his hands on the remastered Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Trilogy that was originally for PS2. Moment he saw it, he immediately grabbed hold of it as soon as he had enough money to splouge on both the console and the games themselves.

So far, he managed to get through Sands of Time, the first of the trilogy...even though he had no ends of trouble handling that game. Now he was onto Warrior Within and couldn't even get through the first escape the Dahaka route.

"That's like your tenth try this week, Lea." Isa commented with a knowing smirk. "Though, at this point, you do kinda suck at it."

"Tell that to the horned-masked guy." Lea grumbled. "Ugh. I swear, that game cheats. Either that, or the bigger guys are, the faster they are for some stupid reason."

Iago rolled his eyes, saying in exasperation, "Whoever thought that making these games either had a crazy imagination or liked to make stupid animation games in pretend 3D that still makes a person's or bird's stomach turn."

"Welcome to the modern world." Lea grinned, placing his hands behind his head. "Besides, the only games you probably seen anybody play were Cards or Pool, or even Golf."

"At least I know how to play golf, not like Genie who's the biggest loser when it comes to any games!" Iago pointed out. "He'd even lose to the Carpet I know, even at Chess."

"Hard to believe that you even know how to play golf." Isa shook his head. "Other than that, one would think that seeing these games based on what you're used to probably gave you bad memories, right?"

The parrot facepalmed himself, before answering, "No...it's enough to give me nightmares, and the setting is kinda similiar to what I was born and grew up in and then some, but at least there wasn't something as stupid as what's in those games. And if that black guy chasin' that stupid whiny, dumb and non-thinker prince got any bigger, I hope this game ends with him getting a rip in his pants!"

"Yeah, ya' gotta admit, the Prince in these games ain't bright, is he?" Lea nodded in agreement. He then smirked and added, "Then again, the richer people are, the more gullible, stubborn, and snobby they are."

"That explains why that Vizer guy in the first game is like a non-Genie-stealer version of Jafar. Not to mention paler, a little bit older and uglier too." Iago dryly commented, shuddering at the memories of his past.

Before the teenage boys could comment on that, Lea's bedroom door was slammed open so suddenly that it made the three of them jump and while Lea and Isa jumped to their feet to see what was going on, Iago yelped, as a panting Aqua had slammed the door open, with Melody, Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Ven, Mushu and surprisingly, Sebastian behind her.

"Have any of you seen twin babies?" Aqua frantically asked, in desperation.

"Uh, no." Lea muttered, still in shock at the unexpected alarm.

"Twin babies?" Isa asked, blinking in confusion.

"Twins!?" Iago cried out. "That's double trouble!" He added, before gazing at Sebastion and asked, skeptically, "And why are you here, Crabby?"

Sebastian, not exactly thrilled to see Iago either, replied, "I came here to see how Melody is doing and came here a little while ago, and then I came across them babysitting little twins."

"And the twins are here because...?" Isa began.

"We were babysittin'." Goofy replied.

"Well, Aqua was." Mushu corrected, "We just came by to help out, and man are the kids a handful."

"It kinda all started out like this..." Mickey began telling Lea, Isa and Iago the story.

* * *

 _Twenty minutes earlier..._

 _ **Crash! Bang! Smash! Clang! Thud!**_

Two babies, identical twins to be exact with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing the same blue baby outfits, were a lot harder than Aqua had expected the young one year olds to be. She'd volunteered to babysit them when the preschool/kindergarten teachers took the four, five and six year old students out for the day and had no time in babysitting, and that the twins' parents were on a tour with Serah who volunteered to guide them since art-class was off today.

Despite Ansem's warning, Aqua was confident that she could handle. Boy did she underestimate the kids. Fortunately, Ven, Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Mushu and Melody came in time to try and get the children to settle down, but even they were having trouble and all of them were trying to get the kids away from breaking anything they could get ahold of. Everyone else were busy with whatever they were doing.

For example, Donald and Daisy were out on a date, Terra was training with Zack and Cloud, you name it.

"Gee...I don't think even I was this bad when I was a baby." Mickey commented, carefully putting the books back onto the shelf.

"Or this fast." Goofy added, about to place the vase back onto the table when he accidently stepped and slipped onto a lingering book and stumbled and wobbled clumsily before crashing onto the floor and accidently tossing the vase into the air which then landed right on top of his head which ended up stuck in the vase the moment it went through the hole.

"Babies, be careful with...!" Minnie was too late as the twins pulled more books off the shelf in the lounge of the Academy. "...Those books."

The group then heard a gasp behind them and turned to see, to their surprise, a familiar talking red crab that managed to make his way into the Academy from the ocean. It was Sebastian whom Mickey, Goofy, Mushu and Melody hadn't seen since during the search for the treasures to stop Chernabog.

"Melody! What is going on here?" The crab asked.

"Oh! Just uh...helping our friend Aqua here babysitting, Sebastian." Melody explained, sheepishly, gesturing at the said twins who were still playing by making a mess, as all babies do. Aqua, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Ven and Mushu all shrugged with similiar sheepish expressions.

Sebastian's eyes widened in shock as he was seeing double, knowing that twins were twice as a handful as just one baby. Deciding to take matters into his own claws, he went over to the young people, lecturing to Aqua, "Young lady. You're being too quick in handling babies."

"Like how? I helped look after four and five year olds." Aqua responded, puzzled. She couldn't understand what she was doing wrong here.

"Well, first off, you need to be careful with them in playing with them." The crab then demostrated as he went over to the now curious babies, "Speak in a gentle voice, and tickle their chins." before gently ticking the twins' chins which made the babies laugh as he cooed, "Coo cee coo cee coo. Coo cee coo cee coo."

As he was doing this, Sebastian was impressing the others who smiled.

"Wow! You're a natural." Ven commented, amazed.

"He did the same when I was babysitting twins." Melody giggled.

"Coo cee coo cee coo!" Sebastian continued, before chuckling as the kids settled down while laughing as they'd been tickled. "See? I know how to handle babies."

But then he was grabbed by the twins who decided that the tickling was a new game and they then tickled Sebastian who was left helplessly laughing hysterically, "St-Stop! Babies! S-stop! Hahahahaha!" which made the others laugh at the scene that was happening.

"Say, uh, I'll go and get some toys from the kids playground." Aqua spoke up, about to head out the room. "Some old and unbreakable toys, I mean."

"I'll go with you, Aqua." Ven volunteered, following his friend out.

"Me too." Minnie added.

"So will I." Goofy added.

"That makes four." Melody added.

"Say uh, Mushu. Can we trust ya's to keep the kids and Sebastian busy while we're gone?" Mickey asked to the small dragon as he began to follow the others. "And keep a good eye on them too!" He added, sternly.

"Hey, if I can handle and entertain Lucky, these kids will be a piece of cake!" Mushu said proudly(as shown back in Episode 21 of "Life FAR From Normal"), waving his friends off as they all left the lounge, before turning back to the scene as Sebastian, still laughing and being in the tickle attack, couldn't handle it anymore and managed to squeeze himself free before returning to the dragon, panting from the hysterics.

Calming down and managing to breathe again, Sebastian then began to say to his current companion...and as the two were distracted, the two unfortunately failed to keep a good eye on the babies who, with all doors open, began to crawl away to venture out into their new surroundings.

"Mushu, let me tell you a little secret, when it comes to handling kids. You see, I've seen so many and helped out quite a lot. In fact, it-it's been such a long time, when I was a baby." Sebastian remembered, tearing up a little at memories of his much, much earlier years. "I was a little whipper snapper...with real tiny claws..."

"How're things going with the kids?" Ven asked when he and the others came back, arms full of many toys that were unbreakable.

"Told ya' it was a piece of cake." Mushu said, distractedly. "I think they're taking a nap right now." jerking a thumb behind him...only to flinch when he and the others looked to see that it wasn't the case at all. In fact...

The others gasped and inadvertedly dropped the toys when Aqua cried out in horror, "They're gone!"

"Ahhh!" Minnie shrieked in panic.

"Well, c'mon! We gotta go find them!" Mickey cried out, taking hold of Minnie's hand and sped all over the room to find the children, with Ven, Aqua, Goofy, and Melody racing after them, which caused both Mushu and Sebastian to be spun around in high speed before the two eventually followed the group to search all over the Academy...

* * *

 _Back in the Present..._

"Annnnnd things went down hill and that's why we're in town right now lookin' for them, right?" Lea sighed dramatically as he, Isa and Iago joined Aqua and the others to find the children and had come to conclusion that they managed to sneak past everyone and could be anywhere in Radiant City.

"Yep." Mickey sighed, looking under outdoor shelves of a video store to see if the twins were there, before seeing that they weren't and continued the search after he concluded what happened. "Kinda."

"I wish Genie was here. He'd know what to do." Ven sighed, shaking his head as he looked between the gap of two buildings, ending up empty handed.

Iago, annoyed in being dragged in yet another disaster, grumbled, "We're never gonna find them, guys. It's like looking for two needles in a haystack that's the size of this town!"

As usual, the others ignored this and continued their search. Eventually they found a young girl, close to fifteen and seemingly either new or was just visiting, with orange long hair in a loop loose style and a white and purple garment with blue eyes.

"Excuse me." Aqua called up to the girl who turned to face her and the others. "We're looking for twin babies. Have you seen them?"

"Yeah, they look like this." Sebastian added, trying to look like the babies, with Mushu doing the same by both of them making a puppy-eye and goofy and slightly disturbing expressions that were nothing like the children. The crab then added as his and Mushu's expressions returned to normal, "Only cuter."

"Uh...I'm sorry, but I haven't." The girl said apologetically, while a little creeped out at what the crab and small dragon just did, while the group sighed in disappointment and growing despair.

"This is all my fault." Aqua sorrowfully sighed.

"C'mon, Aqua. Don't blame yourself." Ven tried to assure his friend. "We'll find them."

"He's right, Aqua." Mickey added, before turning to glare at Mushu and Sebastian, "They're the ones who lost the kids, because Mushu was supposed to keep a good eye on them."

"Hey! I was about to do that, but the crab here distracted me and made me lose them!" Mushu argued, glaring at Sebastian who felt insulted by the blame.

"Me?" The crab asked, before pointing out at the two, "Aqua's the babysitter."

"Oh yeah? Well, you said you were the baby expert!" Mickey yelled back, turning to continue the search, as the others also glared at Sebastian with expressions of agreement.

"Well, everybody makes mistakes!" Sebastian yelled back.

"Excuse me." The girl whom Aqua spoke to regards to the babies' whereabouts. "If you like, I can help you look for the missing children." much to the group's surprise.

"Really?" Melody asked, surprised.

"Of course. I cannot bear the thought of innocent children being lost on their own." The girl replied.

"That's so sweet of you. Thank you!" Aqua smiled, relieved, before introducing herself, "My name is Aqua. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Ventus. But you can call me Ven." Ven added with smile.

"I'm Mickey." Mickey added.

"I'm Minnie." Minnie added kindly.

"Name's Goofy." Goofy added.

"Hi! I'm Melody." Melody greeted happily.

"I'm Mushu." Mushu added, "It's a long story."

"I'm Iago." Iago responded in a bored tone.

"My name's Isa." Isa nodded politedly.

"I'm Lea. Got it memorized?" Lea added while tapping the side of his head when he said his catch-phrase.

"And I'm the Great Sebastian. Perhaps, if you heard of me." Sebastian bowed politedly.

The girl nodded, finding all of them unusual but very friendly even though she had slight doubts about Iago, and introduced herself, "Pleasure to meet you. My name's Strelitzia."

* * *

Unknown to the group, an old nemesis that they haven't seen in months was watching them from around the corner with a Moogle who was dressed up in a dark shirt and had, hovering next to him. It was none other than Pete who came on an excersion with his new class of Galbadian Academy, and since he wanted revenge on Mickey Mouse and his friends of Radiant Academy, not to mention wanting to steal some valubles, he listened in on what he and his new companion, Moggler of Galbadian Academy had just heard.

"Looks like they're looking for twin babies, Kupo! Heheheheh!" Moggler giggled mischeviously.

"Which just gives me a great idea." Pete grinned evilly. "If we find those kids first before those pipsqueaks do, we can use them to steal whatever we want for an exchange."

"Great idea, Pete, Kupo!" Moggler cheered, before asking as he realised a bit of a problem. "But what if they find them first and try and stop us, Kupo?"

The large cat scoffed before pulling out what appeared to be an accordion squeezer that looked like to make cream curls on cakes out of nowhere, saying, "We'll use this. It's a balloon blower that traps anything and anyone of any size inside a balloon that's only breakable from outside. The science teacher Fuhito made this baby, so I snuck it when he wasn't even looking."

"Does it work, Kupo?" Moggler asked, getting a bit of a closer look to it, only for Pete to squeeze thing which made the sound of an accordion, and the next thing the Moggle knew, he found himself becoming engulfed and stuck inside a blue balloon that was inflated and in confusion, ended up floating away into the sky.

"It works." Pete replied with a calm smirk. Time for phase two.

* * *

The babies the meantime were happily playing and exploring, being far too young to know the dangers of the real world just yet. They cooed happily when they saw a blue balloon float by, with Moggler still stuck inside. Wanting to play with the balloon, the twins immediately and surprisingly grabbed it from the bottom, wanting to obviously fly. However, their weight was quickly too much for the balloon to bear.

 _ **Pop!**_

The balloon popped and while it freed Moggler, the babies fell and landed safely into a flower cart which then began to roll away from the flower stand, much to the owner's horror. As the badies were rolling in the out of control cart, many people had to run out of the way and narrowly missed in being run over. Unaware that they were about to get hurt, the babies just cheered, even as the cart lost it's wheels when it slid up on a ramp and over buildings, flying before descending.

Fortunately and unfortunately, the cart landed right on top of a large red family van that was driving along the road. Due to the flowers in the card, the babies had a soft landing. The noise of the landing though nearly scared all of the occupants within that caused the driver to pull to a stop.

Getting out of the door was a man in his late thirties, shaggy brown hair, around glasses, and normal citizen clothing that, if one would guess, would make him a bit of a family man as well as a geeky inventor. Coming out of the passenger's side was a teenager around 15 years of age, obviously the man's son.

"What was that?" The boy asked, startled.

"A flower cart?" The father asked...only to become confused and concerned when he and his son heard sounds of not one, but two babies, slightly echoed by the youngest passenger of the car in the back seat; which was a two-ish year old blond-haired boy. "With...babies?"

Carefully, the two lifted the cart off and lowered it onto the ground. True to the father's question and concern, were the twins who were happily giggling away, playing with the flowers, one of them letting off a sneeze.

"Uh...Dad?" The boy asked, shocked and confused. "Where did they come from?"

"I don't know, Nick." The father sighed. "Guess we're gonna have to babysit these kids along with Adam before we can call the police to take them and call their parents."

"Just my day." Nick grumbled. One Adam was enough, but now having to help look after both his own little brother as well as two obviously lively and trouble-making twins? All he wanted was to be cool boy and win the heart of his crush.

Unknown to them, Iago, who was sent by Ven to search by the air(much to the bird's annoyance), had seen what was happening and hurried to follow, only to arrive too late as the two people scooped up the kids and carefully returned to the car before driving off.

"Awk! Not good!" Iago cried out, before racing to follow them as fast as possible even though the idea of trying to talk that guy and his teenage son into giving him the kids was clearly impossible, especially since there was only one of him, and two of the babies who were bigger than him.

* * *

Eventually, two minutes later, they arrived at a house on a small slope in a nice neighborhood, with the father and son carrying both the twins and, to Iago's surprise, another kid, a yearish older than the twins, out of the car. To his confusion, though, the father was having problems in getting his own youngest son out of the babyseat. So, with a last resort, he unclipped the seat from the back seat and carried Adam in the seat and into the house, which raised eye-brows from the neighbors as well as Iago.

"That kid must have some growths spurt or something." Iago shook his head, before snapping out of it and flew off quickly, saying, "Gotta warn Aqua before we end up losing those two kids to the police and then we'd get into even MORE trouble!"

When Iago had returned, he had to use Isa's hair to stop himself and bumped into the teenager's head hard.

"Ow!" Isa grunted painfully. "Iago!"

" _Notimeforheadbandage!_ _Wegottamoveonthedouble!_ " Iago cried out hurried very hastily that he said this all in the one sentence that none of them as they rejoined could understand what he was saying. But they the panicked look on his face, they could tell that something was wrong.

"Did you find the kids?" Ven asked urgently.

"Well, the good news is, yes." Iago panted, before saying panickly again, "The bad news is that if we don't hurry to where I found them, the guy who did find them with his own two kids will take the twins to the police and call their parents and if we don't get there now, we'll be in BIG trouble!"

Aqua and the others paled at the very thought of that when they heard this. The sudden image of being discovered that they lost the twins who would be reunited with their parents who would be so furious of them that they'd place them in jail, or worse...if Serah found out and Ansem found out, they would be expelled from Radiant Academy all together and not just end up in Xehanort's lecture class appeared in their minds.

"Okay, that...is a big problem." Mushu muttered, scaredly.

"What're we gonna do!?" Goofy cried out, hysterically.

"Calm down, Goofy!" Mickey quickly said, as calmly as possible. "All we gotta do is go to the house Iago saw and then pick up the kids before he calls the police."

"Sounds like a plan." Strelitzia commented, only to cry out in alarm when suddenly she and the others found themselves strangely caught and trapped inside a pink balloon, leaving them stuck inside it which began to hover slowly into the air.

"Wha-!? What the hell's goin' on?" Lea cried out, stunned and dumbfounded.

"So much for the plan." Sebastian sighed, somehow not surprised that something has gone wrong in less than 24 hours.

"Thanks for the plan, pipsqueaks. Makes things easier for me!" An undoubtfully familiar voice sneered with a grin, as the group turned to see, to their shock, and in Strelitzia and Sebastian's confusion, was Pete who was the one having used the Balloon Maker to suddenly trap the group as he and Moggler who'd returned, approached them trapped in the balloon.

"Who's that?" Strelitzia asked, her eyes narrowing as she could tell, whoever this large cat was, he wasn't one to become friends with. What he just did to her and the others was proof of that.

"It's Pete!" Ven grunted angrily.

"Why you no good Pete!" Mickey grunted accussingly.

"What are you doing here?" Aqua demanded, as she and her friends glared at their former fellow student who had caused so much problems and who they haven't seen since after Hades and Chernabog were defeated.

"I thought you were at Galbadian Academy!" Iago shrieked.

Pete nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I'm actually here on excersion, but it also gave me a least a chance to pay you nimrods back for kicking me out! Thankfully, I overheard what youse were doin'. So, I decided to go and look for the twins and use them to steal for me, see."

"With a little bit of my help, Kupo!" Moggler added cheekily.

"What he said." Pete added, jerking a thumb at his new partner in crime. "We're buddies."

"You'd better let us out or I'll give you a piece of my mind! I'm giving you 30 seconds to do it, starting right now!" Minnie yelled angrily, glaring at Pete which not only made Pete shiver a little, but also made Mickey, Ven, Lea, Isa, Mushu, Goofy and Iago back off a little, while Aqua, Melody and Strelitzia glared at Pete as well. "30, 29, 28, 27..."

"Gawrsh, I've never seen her so mad." Goofy whispered, nervously.

"Ooh! I have." Mickey responded, knowing his girlfriend's temper when it kicked in. This was one of those times, and frankly, he couldn't blame her.

"I'd like to see you try and get outta there." Pete sneered evilly, before giving the trapped balloon a flick and to the trapped group's shock and horror, they began to drift away. "So long, suckers! Enjoy the same expellation as I did! Bwahahaha! Oh! And jail time, too!" before walking off with Moggler to find the said house.

"Hey! Pete! Let us outta here! I'm WARNING YOU!" Lea shouted loudly, but by then, it was already too late as he and his friends were being drifted away in their moveable prison, while Pete and Moggler were heading off to find the twins which meant that things were only getting more and more worse.

Iago tried to pinch their way out with his claws, as did Sebastian, while Mushu tried to melt it with a small flame, and the others tried to push their way out, but it was simply no use. They were all trapped.

"Looks like the only way out is for this balloon to be burst from the outside." Strelitzia acknowlaged gravely, despite still trying to break free as well.

"Uh, and since we're pretty much gettin' higher and higher, I don't think burstin' it now would be a good idea, unless you wanna risk in being splattered like a pancake." Lea pointed out, starting to really panic as they were close to being 50 feet up.

"Gee, this is like that James and the Giant Peach movie, only with a balloon and no bugs, and no seagulls." Mushu commented with wide eyes, shrugging.

"And no eight year old kid named James either." Iago added, rolling his eyes at Mushu's bad timing in making a movie referrence at a time like this.

"Uh...guys?" Melody muttered, worriedly. "We have a problem."

When the others turned see what the half-human-half-mermaid was worried about, their eyes widened in horror as a flock of birds were flying straight towards them, realising that if one or two of them popped the balloon, they were in really big trouble, more than ever.

"To the right! To the right!" Mickey cried out, trying to get the balloon to move, as the others followed his example, panting as it was going a little too slow for them to move out of the way quickly, and trying to lower themselves back onto the ground as quickly as possible.

"Man! This is just like me tryin' to out-run the stupid Dahaka in the Warrior Within game!" Lea cried out, panting as he tried to get the balloon to go to the right with the others.

Thankfully, the group managed to narrowly avoid the flock of birds and sighed in relief while now floating still to the right inside the balloon...only to realise too late as they were heading towards the trees. Screaming, the group tried to turn to the left this time, but they were too late, as the balloon made contact with a couple of branches that had no leaves on them as Fall was approaching.

 _ **Pop!**_

Their prison popped and now the group were sent falling to the ground, though their fall was broken by the same tree as they managed to slide and briefly grab onto the branches, before finally landing into the bushes with a thud, though it wasn't the prettiest landing, as they all moaned with slightly sore spots.

"Ow!" They all grumbled.

One by one, the group crawled out of the bush, brushing the leaves off of themselves, and stood up.

"Well, that's just great. We lost the twins again!" Iago groaned in irritation.

"And this time, it was not my fault!" Sebastian quickly said in annoyance, glaring at everyone else before the would go and accuse him again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Pete and Moggler were looking for where the twins could be, but unfortunately for them, since they had no idea where to go as they forgot to take Iago with them and demand him where to look, they were stuck in looking for the babies themselves and thus, they ended up outside of Radiant City and into Radiant Forest.

Pete in the meantime, due to still not doing exersises, panted in exhaustion before slumping slightly and commented sarcastically, "For what it's worth...I'm takin' over this here forest."

"Not to point out the dumbness, Pete, Kupo. But why did you suggest to look for the twins here in the middle of nowhere?" Moggler asked, confused as they were now a little bit lost in the forest.

"So I can dump ya' in a lake!" Pete threatened with heavy sarcasm, which made his companion flinch worriedly. Calming down and exhausted, he then said, "You know...when those kids probably got a ride to somewheres, I wish we had a free ride too."

Moggler's eyes bulged out scaredly when he noticed something behind Pete and sarcastically suggested while trying not to panic, "How about that Bear, Pete, Kupo?"

"Good idea..." Pete muttered, distractedly when he looked, but then it quickly registered and he and Moggler's eyes widened when a huge brown bear, who looked rather angry and maybe angry, was charging straight towards them quickly.

"BEAR!" Pete and Moggler panicked and quickly made a run for it, only to smack face first into a boulder next to a tree, and stood there flat against it after recovering. The Bear got closer and closer with it's mouth opened, until the two trouble-makers quickly dodged and ran away.

 _ **SMACK!**_ (With the Cymbals dinging for sound effects)

The bear hit the rock jaw and face first hard, sliding to the ground and losing consciousness while seeing stars circle around it's head. As for it's two meals, they simply continued searching through the forest and in completely wrong direction.

Well, at least they're far away from the twins.

* * *

At the house of the man who's name is Wayne Szalinski who is a crazy inventor, he and Nick were busy trying to find the tag names of the twins which proved to be far more difficult and trying to get the said children to settle down was a lot harder, especially since they also had Adam to worry about.

Suddenly there was a quick flash and a small movement that rocked the house and caused both Wayne and Nick to glance at each other in confusion, before their family dog came racing into the room, whimpering and looking panicked. He dove under the couch and whimpered.

"What's with him?" Nick asked, blinking. His father shrugged as he had no idea what was with the dog either. Seeing how their pet came from the kitchen, the two decided to see what was happening while leaving the twins on the couch while the babies began to play with the toys that were offered to them.

Almost immediately, they saw the problem and the two let out a scream before they cam racing back into the living room, grabbing the twins and hid behind the couch, shock and disbelief and horror very clear on the two men's faces.

"Dad...how?" Nick stuttered in disbelief, while trying to get the twins to stay with them.

"Where were you in the lab this morning?" Wayne replied, slightly scolding and panicking, "Were you watching Adam?"

"He was off to the side."

"But at the moment of discharge, where was he?"

"Just before, I know, he was off to the side. Wasn't he?"

Wayne, in realization as two year olds were notorious of being escape artists, shook his head as he muttered, "I don't think so."

At that moment, Adam came into the living room, but something was completely different about the kid. He was now seven feet tall.

"Boo!" The giant baby called.

At that moment, Wayne knew what had to be done; he had to get his youngest son back to normal size...even if it meant delaying the normal-sized twins' return to their own parents.

Too bad this plan won't go the way he and Nick were hoping and today will only get worse, not only for them, but for the babysitters of the twins.

* * *

Just as Aqua's group finally made it to the place Iago had spotted them, their eyes widened in sheer horror as the family van that had took the twins were now already too far and gone off...possibly to the police station.

"Well...the idea was nice while it lasted." Iago commented dismissively.

 _Half an hour later..._

Unwilling to return to Radiant Academy empty handed, completely humilated and guilty for not being more careful for looking after the twins, Aqua, Melody, Ven, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Iago, Mushu, Sebastian and Strelitzia sat on the footpath in front of the house, stumped and defeated and worried sick, and all knowing that they were going to be in real big trouble and had become jokes to the Academy.

"Headmaster Ansem tried to warn me." Aqua muttered in guilt. "As a babysitter, I'm a big flop."

"Oh, don't blame yourself, Aqua. Most of us didn't pay attention either and got side-tracked." Minnie assured.

"Not to mention that most of us should've stayed to keep an eye out on the kids. It's my fault for lettin' Mushu and Sebastian to keep an eye on them." Mickey added.

"He has a point." Ven added.

"Hey, come on, don't take it hard on yourselves. Sebastian and I messed up as much as you kids did." Mushu pointed out.

"Not mention that the three of us should've been in the lobby or somethin' instead of my room." Lea added, with both Isa and Iago nodding in agreement, as did Goofy and Melody.

Sebastian nodded, concluding, "They're right, Aqua. We're all a bunch of flops."

"Thanks, guys." Aqua nodded, before sighing once more. "How are we going to explain this to everyone at the Academy, though?"

"For one thing, worse case scenario, we're all gonna be expelled and lose our future jobs and have to start right back at square one if we hafta enroll at Galbadian Academy...and I don't wanna go there. Those students there are too snobby!" Lea groaned, burying his face into his hands. "I wanna be a Turk!"

Strelitzia sat there, gazing at the group and feeling very sorry for them. She wished there was something she could do to solve this problem. The problem is, she had no idea how to help in this situation. Suddenly, a car horn got her and everyone else's attentions as they gazed to their left, seeing a taxi slow and being to pull up at where they were sitting.

"Uh oh! Company!" Mushu panicked, before hiding in Ven's shirt while Sebastian hid in Goofy's had as the latter told him to do so since it was the best place to hide, and Iago, gulping, perched himself onto Lea's right shoulder as the group stood up.

Thankfully, the driver and passenger didn't see it, as the latter payed for the trip before getting out of the car and waving a goodbye to the taxi driver who waved back and drove off to find his next costumer. The passenger was a woman in her mid thirties with blonde hair, wearing jeans and a pink shirt an high heels as she approached the group.

"Hi." The woman greeted, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Well..." Aqua trailled off, not sure how to respond to that. "It's just..."

"We kinda lost twin babies and um, they were taken to the police before we could take them back to their parents." Goofy shrugged, sheepishly, which earned him glares from Mickey, Ven, Melody, Lea, Iago and Isa.

"Are you babysitters?" The woman asked, a little suspiciously.

"I am." Aqua replied, before admitting, "Not a very good one, obviously."

"Most of us were trying to help babysit, but yeah...we kinda lost them." Ven added.

"I was only trying to help find the children." Strelitzia added.

"I see. Maybe my husband found them and took them to the police so that they will call their parents to let them know what happened." The woman nodded, before scolding them, "But you all should've been responsible and kept a better eye on children. As babysitters, it's your responsiblity and you have to keep an eye on them like hawks at all times."

"Yes, ma'am." The students of Radiant Academy said, guiltily, despite that they, Iago and Strelitzia only just met her a few minutes ago. Still, she was right and that only made their guilt even worse.

"Would you all like to come in for soda or tea while you're waiting?" The woman offered after calming down a little.

"Gosh, are you sure it's okay?" Mickey asked, hesitatedly. "We don't wanna intrude you and your family." with the others nodding in agreement.

"Well, considering that you need something to try and think things through, I hate to turn away people who are good hearted and make this sort of mistake. Besides, I live with a crazy husband who always had crazy ideas ever since I've known him. Plus, raising kids isn't easy." The woman replied.

"We'd appreciate that, thank you." Aqua replied kindly.

The group introduced themselves...well, Lea introduced Iago who tried his best to pretend he was just an ordinary parrot, while the woman, who introduced herself as Diane Szalinski who'd just returned from the airport after seeing her eldest daughter Amy off to collage since Amy wanted to study at the Midgar Collage rather than Radiant Academy.

"Guys, I'm home, and I brought visitors." Diane called the moment she and the others stepped through the door. After a few moments, there was a slight pause. "Wayne? Nick? Adam?"

"You have a wonderful place, Mrs. Szalinski." Strelitzia commented. The house was really homey and the living room was admittedly large. Aqua and the others agreed.

"Thank you. It's not much." Diane replied, glancing around while adding, "As for my husband and two sons, maybe they went out to the park or something. Anyway, what would you like?"

"Just a glass of water would be alright, Mrs. Szalinski." Aqua replied kindly.

"Me too, ma'am." Minnie replied.

"I'll have a glass of water too." Mickey replied, as did the others since they all decided it was much easier for the poor woman to handle.

"Would you like some help?" Lea offered with a slight shrug. "Since there's a lotta of us."

"That's really sweet of you, Lea." Diane commented with a smile, which made the redhead blush a little, before he turned to glare at Isa who smirked and snickered.

Diane and Lea, as well as Aqua, Isa, Ven and Melody who also offered to help ventured into the kitchen, only for all of them to pause in surprise, shock and dumbfoundment at what was lying on the floor. It was a stuffed toy bunny that was about the same height as both Aqua and Diane.

"Uh..." Lea began, puzzled. "Didn't know your kids played with toys that big."

"They don't." Diane muttered, dumbfounded, as she picked it up. "It looks just like Adam's Big Bunny toy, but well...bigger."

"You mean you don't know where it came from, Mrs. Szalinski?" Melody quired, puzzled.

The older woman shook her head, before muttering, "The only one who would know is my husand, Wayne." as Mickey and the others came into the kitchen to see what was going on, and like their friends and Mrs. Szalinski, they too were dumbfounded.

Suddenly Mickey was having a slight deja vu with a similiar but complete opposite situation, and prayed that, by the sight of the giant toy, this situation wasn't what he began to fear it was. Before he could even say anything, the sound of a car pulling up at the driveway got everyone's attentions.

"I think that's them." Diane muttered, "Excuse me." before she went to meet and greet the rest of her family, while the others, not wanting to be rude and stand in the middle of the kitchen, returned to the living room to see an unfamiliar man standing there who, at the sight of his wife and the toy, apparently froze up in terror and fear.

"Hi, honey. I'm home." Diane greeted, before noticing something in the man's arms. "Are those twin babies?"

"Wait, twins?" Ven spoke up when he and the others heard this, appearing behind Diane, and true to the woman's words, were two familiar twin babies who were happily giggling and obviously wanting to play. But no doubt about it, and while the group were confused on why the man was here and so were the twins, at the moment, they didn't care and suddenly hope returned to them.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Aqua sighed in great relief. "The twins are okay."

"Uh, uh, hi." Wayne spoke, after snapping himself out of the horrified trance, and then giving his wife a kiss. He then turned to the group and asked, "You know these babies?"

"Yes. I'm their babysitter, and my friends and I have been looking for them." Aqua replied, before asking, "How did you find them?"

"Good question." Diane added.

"I have no idea, except that they were in this flower cart and landed right on top of the van while I was out." Wayne replied, handing the twins over to the grateful Aqua who held them close, and the babies, seeing how happy she was, hugged her as well as they began to really like the young blue-haired woman.

"Thank you so much, sir." Aqua told the man.

"At least they're...uh...you know." Wayne replied, now somewhat nervously. This only made the students of Radiant Academy, Strelitzia and Diane immediately suspicious at the look. It didn't take them long to figure out that he did something wrong and due to the giant toy in Diane's hands, it further proved that Aqua and the others were not the only ones who messed up today when it comes to kids.

He didn't get the chance to say anything further, as Diane now demanded in her knowing tone, getting a little agressive, "Wayne...What did you do, and where did this Bunny come from?"

Realising that he's not going to get out of this and having reached his breaking point, Wayne almost wailed, "Alright, I confess! I did it!"

"Did what?"

Suddenly, the front doors opened and lole and behold, the now seven-foot-tall Adam came in, wearing an over-sized man's coat, knocking on the door and calling out, "Peakaboo!"

"Whoa!" Lea, Ven, and Isa exclaimed in shock and disbelief, while Mickey, Minnie and Goofy, even Iago, and blowing their cover, Sebastian and Mushu all screamed in horror, Aqua, Melody and Strelitzia gasped in shock and disbelief, and the twin babies just giggled, not yet understanding this...then again, neither did Adam since he's still just a baby himself.

"I blew up the baby." Wayne concluded, guilty as charged.

 _ **Thud!**_

Diane's eyes had rolled into the back of her head as she passed out in shock and horror and having landed on the ground with a thud, overwhelmed that her husband had caused her youngest son to grow into a seven-foot-tall giant baby.

"Mama fall down!" Adam cried out, worried. "Mama?"

"I feel like passin' out too." Lea muttered, scaredly. Iago, Mushu and Sebastian all nodded in agreement.

"One of my worst nightmares." Mickey muttered, shaking his head in disbelief and wanted all of this to be really nothing more than a nightmare. First the twins and now this.

Then, another teenaged boy, Nick, peaked from behind his giant baby brother, asking to Wayne about Diane, "How'd she take it?"

"About like usual." Wayne commented, "And so did our visitors, one of them being the babysitter to the twins." while Aqua and the others waved sheepishly at Nick, still stunned by this new events.

"Mama sleeping?" Adam asked, not understanding the shock his mother had felt that caused her to lose consciousness.

Strelitzia, cringing at the fact that the situation had gotten more complicated in Radiant City today, instead decided to comfort the giant child, saying, "Y-Yes, sweetheart. Mama is sleeping."

"Well, hah...A-At least we won't get into trouble with the twins." Mickey tried to lighten the mood.

Oh boy. Looks like today has really gotten a lot more complicated, but as Mickey said, at least the twins are found and they wouldn't have to worry about the police calling the babies' parents who wouldn't find out about the group's own baby dilemma.

But now Radiant City had another big problem.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **A/N: Probably not the best one, but this continues in the next episode. This is based on both the Little Mermaid episode "Double Bubble" and the sequel movie to Honey I Shrunk the Kids, "Honey, I blew up the Kid" which was the first film I've seen as a child before the first one, actually.**

 **I'll try and update this again as soon as possible, but I'll be busy in two weeks time and probably won't write again until sometime next month before Christmas, or after New Year's Day next year at the latest.**

 **See you soon!**


	7. Episode 7: A bit of a BIG problem-Part 2

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: I know that it's somewhat late again, sorry about that. Without much to say, let's continue on.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 7: A bit of a BIG problem-Part 2.

 _Previously, on Life NEVER was Normal..._

 _"Mama fall down!" Adam cried out, worried. "Mama?"_

 _"I feel like passin' out too." Lea muttered, scaredly. Iago, Mushu and Sebastian all nodded in agreement._

 _"Mama sleeping?" Adam asked, not understanding the shock his mother had felt that caused her to lose consciousness._

* * *

 _ **Five minutes later...**_

Despite wanting to help with this new big problem, and I do mean big, Aqua knew she had to return to Radiant Academy with the Twins, so she, Minnie, Melody and Sabastian left to head back before the babies' parents returned while Ven, Mickey, Goofy, Mushu, Iago, Lea, Isa and Strelitzia stayed behind in hopes of helping Wayne and his family to return Adam back to his normal size...

First, they layed the still unconscious Diane on the couch. Well, mostly unconscious, anyway.

"I'll kill Wayne..." Diane was saying unconsciously, sounding so slurred that one would think that she'd gotten herself drunk.

"You don't want to kill Wayne." Wayne was trying to comfort his wife, while at the same time fearing for his life and dignity.

"I wanna kill Wayne..." Diane slurred again.

"So you snuck into your workplace to experiment with your employer's growth machine and you were attempting to use your son's toy to make it grow...?" Strelitzia surmised, frowning in disappointment.

"And things went down hill because you and your teenage kid weren't payin' attention to the little kid!?" Iago shrieked, clearly annoyed. First Mushu and Sabastian not paying attention and letting the twins sneak out that got everyone into this mess, and now this!? Was is this, let your kids run amok day!?

"Yeah, pretty much." Wayne shrugged, sheepishly.

Iago slapped himself in the face with a groan of exasperation and irritation mixed in all together, while Strelitzia glared at Wayne almost angrily, Mickey was pacing back and forth with concern, slightly panicking of what he was hearing, and Mushu shook his head.

"You know, if your boss finds out about this, if your wife's not gonna kill you, he will. Either way, you're dead, man." Mushu said cautionly.

Suddenly, Goofy was flung from one passage way and into the living room, screaming before crashing onto the floor which caused him to be seeing stars, alerting the others.

"Adam! No throwing!" Nick's voice half-yelled.

"H-Hey! Put me down, kid!" Lea's voice cried out this time, which told them that Adam was, to their shock, doing things that every one and half year old kid should not be doing. "Don't just stand there, guys! Do somethin'!"

"Adam, please put Lea down!" Ven's voice called out.

"Well, aren't you gonna do in there to see what that giant kid's doin'?" Iago asked while glaring at Mickey who blinked.

"And have him pick me up like a toy? To him, I'm just a stuffy!" Mickey pointed out.

"And what do I look like-Goldilocks!?"

Strelitzia in the meantime, hurried over to so see what was happening, only to stop in the doorway as Adam had Lea in his arms, hugging him rather too tightly, while Nick, Ven and Isa tried to get the young child to put the redhead down. Without hesitation, she hurried over to help.

"This is your last warning." Nick warned.

"Adam, please put him down." Strelitzia spoke, softly. "You're hurting him."

To the boys' surprise, Adam stopped, and put Lea down while the youngest muttered, "Sorry."

"Oh, thank Ifrit." Lea groaned, collasping onto his back. "Now I know how actual toys feel like."

"Lea, no time to take a break." Isa rolled his eyes.

The redhead glared up at him, grumbling, "Easy for you to say. I swear, this kid was about to _break_ me!"

Back in the main room, Diane was slowly coming out of unconsciousness, and at first thought that everything she'd seen had been nothing more than a dream and smiled at her husband who hovered slightly over her. But when she saw Adam's toy, she shrieked before sitting up right, and Mickey, Mushu, Iago and Goofy who also woken up, flinched.

"Honey, shh, shh." Wayne tried to calm her down. "It's not as bad as it seems."

Diane begged to differ.

"It almost couldn't be, could it?" Diane growled, before pouncing on Wayne and both of them collasped onto the floor as the wife was trying to give the husband a smack into next Tuesday. The two students of Radiant Academy, Iago and Mushu cringed and flinched in sympathy at each punch and smack Diane was giving Wayne who tried to get her off him.

Just as Nick, Ven, Isa, Strelitzia and a very relieved Lea came through, the latter still grumbling of nearly being crushed and/or squeezed to death by an over-grown 2 year old. The five of them stopped as they saw the commotion that was happening and flinched in sympathy, even though Nick wasn't too surprised.

"Well, we got him in his room." Nick told his parents who, hearing this, stopped, even though Diane refused to get off of Wayne anytime soon.

"And told him to stay inside." Ven added.

"And closed the door." Nick added.

However, no sooner had the words escaped from his mouth, everyone all heard another sound of crashing, and a door opening, along with sounds of footsteps, causing all of them to turn expectingly waiting for Adam's pressence.

"... _Annnnd_ he opened the door." Lea sighed in exasperation. No soon had the redhead said this, the huge baby walked through, holding a familiar door in his hand.

Isa groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, "And he decided to share it with us."

"I break off." Adam muttered.

"Oh, baby." Diane sighed, as she got off Wayne, before she, Wayne, Nick and soon Ven, Lea, Isa, Strelitzia, Mickey(who forced down his fear to try and help) and Goofy all hurried over to try and get the kid to settle down and listen, but as usual, nothing was helping as the toddler began to run around the house, first with the door and then with the coffee table and ect., while Iago and Mushu quickly hid behind the couch for safety.

While the two flinched at the noises they were hearing and calls and such, Iago muttered worriedly to Mushu, "If that kid gets any bigger, this house ain't gonna hold him even for a second or two."

"Forget the house. What about the rest of the neighborhood?" Mushu pointed out, just as worried.

* * *

After half an hour of trying to get Adam to settle down and even played the hokey pokey and between all of them, made a special playpen for Adam, and while Nick was with Adam, the others were trying to solve the problem in how to shrink the baby back to his original size.

During this, Wayne was closing the blinds and shutters, which made Nick ask, "Why are you closing the shutters?"

"So one of the neighbours doesn't look in, see a seven-foot baby and call the National Inquirer." Wayne answered.

"Or the Turks." Isa rolled his eyes.

"Just hope Tseng or Veld doesn't know any of this, or we'd be in serious trouble." Lea shuddered slightly. He can just imagine the looks of the two senior Turks' faces.

"I wish Genie was here to shrink the kid back to normal size." Ven sighed. Of all the times for this mess to happen while the previous mess which was at least solved for now also happened, it had to be when his magical friend went to visit his girlfriend.

"Me too." Mickey sighed, "Even though there were a few hiccups, at least when I was shrunk several months ago, he managed to turn me back to normal size."

"Huh? You were shrank?" Strelitzia asked, confused and puzzled, while Nick and Diane stared in shock and confusion.

The teenage mouse grinned sheepishly, saying awkardly, "It happened on New Year's Eve when I, uh, bought a mirror that I didn't even realise was magical until I accidently said that I may be small, but I could do anythin'."

Iago groaned, "And while he was shrunk and dragon-boy here commented about being a dung beetle, you wanna know what I said?" before saying dopily, "I'm a frilled lizard."

As the words shrink and shrank filled up in Wayne's mind, suddenly, as though memory hit him hard, he exclaimed as an idea came into mind, "Wait. I got an idea."

"What, you do?" Ven blinked, curious as were everyone else.

"My original machine, it's in the lab security warehouse." Wayne told them.

"Uh...could ya' back up a little?" Lea muttered, puzzled. "You completely lost me."

"I'll explain later." Wayne quickly said, before declaring, "This'll have to be a covert operation. Diane, you come with me. Nick, you and the other kids stay with the baby."

"WHAT!?" Iago exclaimed, horrified.

Even Diane protested, "Oh, no. We are not leaving them here alone. Why can't we take him to the labs instead?"

"Diane, you can't take him to the lab. There's no telling what Hendrickson will do if he gets his hands on him." Wayne pointed out.

"Hendrickson? You mean that scientest guy from whatever company that tried and failed to convince his boss to sell our school to that dick?" Lea asked, recalling Hendrickson. The redhead couldn't remember the company's name, but from what he heard, that guy almost tricked to force Radiant Academy to close down so that Hendrickson could buy it and turn it into another lab and force the majority of their neighborhood into a restricted area.

That guy was, as Lea and Reno had put it, a dick.

"Who told you to say that?" Diane questioned disappointedly at Lea who shrugged.

"Well, Adam's exhausted. What he needs is a little bit of sleep." Goofy said while gazing at the said seven-foot-tall baby who indeed looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of Adam until you guys get back." Ven promised to the parents, with Strelitzia nodding in agreement, even though Mickey, Isa, Lea, Mushu, Iago and Nick all shared uncertain and worried glances.

Mushu then cringed and muttered, "For the record, I ain't changing no diapers."

* * *

Once Adam had fallen asleep, Wayne and Diane left to find the shrinking machine, leaving Ven and the others behind to watch over the sleeping Adam, and hoped that the search wouldn't take too long. It wasn't long before they all nodded off out of sheer boredom, with Mickey, Lea and Goofy all snoring.

Too bad things were about to only get worse, when the doorbell rang and woke all of them up. Quickly, the others remembered what was happening, especially when Adam said, drowsily, "I get it."

Immediately, Ven and his best friends and Strelitzia quickly stopped the seven-foot-tall two year old while Nick when to answer, but while he did, the others were having lots and lots of trouble.

"A-Adam! Settle down, please!" Ven cried out, as he could hear the sound of a girl that Nick was talking to.

"Ugh, great. Now that stupid inventor forgot that he hired a baby-sitter for the day." Iago groaned, only to be accidently flinged into the wall by the toddler who unfortunately, at last broke out of his 'playpen' and knocked everyone over while they rolled out of the way to avoid in getting caught.

"Adam!" Mickey cried out, quickly getting up with his friends to give chase to avoid in whoever was at the door to see the baby.

Too late. Adam came around the corner and a girl, around Nick's age, saw the giant baby and like Diane did earlier, her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she collasped, unconscious from sheer shock.

"We're so dead." Lea moaned in dismay.

"Scared your girlfriend much?" Isa groaned sarcastically to Nick who carefully picked the teenage girl up.

"She's not my girlfriend...and now she'll never will be." Nick groaned in dismay. "Look, just help me with her, okay?"

While the group had no choice but to tie up the girl whom Nick introduced as Mandy, up in a chair and gag her and the boys quickly had Adam watch tv with the kids tv shows on, by the time the babysitter awoke, she nearly panicked until everyone gathered around her to try and calm her down.

"Please do calm down. Soon, the baby will be back to normal in no time." Strelitzia informed her, "It was admittedly a shock to all of us too earlier."

"And I felt like passing out too." Iago muttered under his breath.

Mandy remained still, supicious and obviously shocked, until Mickey told her, "Look, we've only met Nick and his family earlier today too and it's kinda a long story, so we're still comin' to terms of this too, but by the end of the day, everything will be back to normal."

"Don't jinx us, Mick'." Isa cautioned.

"I have everything under control. Now, if you promise not to scream, I'll take the gag out of your mouth. Promise?" Nick said to Mandy who slowly nodded. Cautionly and with the others sticking close just in case she did scream, he untied the gag and pulled it away.

A long two minute pause of hesitation, the group sighed in relief, before Nick went to explain what happened and how it did happen after telling Mandy that Adam is just a little kid and is watching TV. Ven and the others then explained how they got involved during another babysitting incident which that, at least, was solved as Aqua, Sebastian, Melody, Minnie, Donald and Daisy were back at Radiant Academy finishing up Aqua's babysitting duties to the two baby twins.

Once Nick finished, Mandy tried to reprise everything she heard, while at the same time, did make a creepy kind of sense, "So, two years ago, he made you and your sister tiny. And the guys next door. Then he made you regular size again. And now he's made your baby brother big."

"Right." Nick nodded to confirm it.

"And you guys don't, like, think that's unusual." Mandy added when she gazed at the others.

Ven sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, while the others looked at each other awkwardly and even Strelitzia looked uncomfortable, with Ven saying, "Well, for the past nearly two years we've seen and experienced so many things that weren't normal that I guess we're kinda almost used to it by now."

Suddenly...

 _ **CRASH!**_

A loud crash coming from the living room startled all of them and, with Nick promising to pay Mandy overtime after asking her for help, untied her and they all immediately rushed into the room, only to find a giant fourteen-foot-tall hole that was shaped like Adam, and everyone's eyes widened in horror and realization that Adam just somehow grew even bigger and, much to their dismay, had gone out into the streets.

"Holy Shiva!" Lea exclaimed, in utter disbelief.

"JERKS JINXS!" Iago yelled at the teenagers furiously.

Mandy shook her head in disbelief, "There's no way I'm changing those diapers."

"Welcome to the club, sister." Mushu nodded in agreement.

"Come on!" Ven quickly told the others as he ran outside through the hole with every intention on finding the child before they would all get into much bigger and deeper trouble.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in the streets, Pete and Moggler had managed to escape the bear and ran out of the forests and were by now panting as their bodies were sore from all of the running and in Moggler's case, flying.

"Next time...I come up...with plans...to kidnap...kids for...jewelry...just smack...me one...will ya'?" Pete panted and wheezed heavily as he came to a stop, sweating and unaware that Moggler flinched as he saw something huge...practically huge, coming straight at them.

"Kupo!?" Moggler exclaimed, horrified before zipping out of the way, which his partner-in-crime noticed.

"What's gotten into 'im?" The large cat muttered, only to feel slight vibrations of something coming right towards him from behind. Sensing something and now getting nervous himself, Pete slowly turned around and immediately his eyes bulged out about two feet comically at the sight of the now fourteen-foot-tall Adam, with his toy in his arms, coming straight towards him.

Screaming in panic, Pete turned to make a run for it, but for a two year old, Adam was surprisingly fast, and unknowingly to the baby, he lifted his foot up as he walked and accidently stomped onto Pete. The good news was that Pete wasn't squashed flat.

Bad news was that Pete stepped into the road with a new hole shaped like him about five inches deep into the ground( **A/N: Okay, imagine it like what you see in traditional Disney shows and the first Kung Fu Panda movie where Po defeated the bad guy** ), while Adam continued on, not having even noticed.

After a couple of dazed minutes, Pete groggily pulled himself half-way out before shaking off the dizzy-spells, staring at the direction where the half-giant baby had disappeared to in shock and disbelief, while Moggler, seeing the coast was clear, floated by his side.

"What in the wide world was that, Kupo?" Moggler demanded.

"No idea, pal." Pete admitted. "I've seen strange things before, but a giant kid walkin' on the streets? That's takes the cake."

"Are you Pete and Moggler?" A new man's voice spoke, and not sounding too happy either.

The two flinched, before looking behind them to see two Police officers standing over them with angry looks on their faces, and the two Students of Galbadian Academy knew, they were in bigger trouble.

"Uh, oh." Pete muttered lowly.

"Kupo." Moggler added.

* * *

"Why did I have to be the look out in the air?" Iago groaned to himself as he was further ahead from the rest of the group. Ven had ordered him to guide them in the air as he searched, much to the bird's annoyance, but seeing how he was the only one who could fly, he had no choice.

It wasn't long before Iago spotted the 'brat' sitting in the middle of the street with the stuffed bunny, playing with it. But as Iago risked in getting a bit closer, much to his dismay and horror, Adam, seeing a red thing in the sky, cooed.

"Ooh! Candy." The two year old muttered, and Iago wasn't quick enough to dodge, before he was grabbed and stuffed into the child's mouth. A second later, though, Adam gaggled when he realised that the 'candy' he just gobbled up wasn't sweet or solid at all.

"I am _not_ candy! I'm a bird! I'M A BIRD!" Iago shouted from the inside of the kid's mouth.

Adam immediately spat Iago out and still spitting out the feathers that got caught, while the parrot crashed into the road with a thud, while the neighborhood, having seen the fourteen-foot-tall baby, gathered but kept their distance as they were dumbstruck with shock, confusion and awe and slight terror.

Freed, Iago shouted up at the kid, "Little brat! Your parents oughta get ya' glasses!" before realising, to his disgust, he was covered in saliva all over and groaned, trying to shake it off. "Eww! Baby drool."

By the time Iago was still trying to get the saliva off him, Ven and the others arrived, but unfortunately, so did a tall man with short dark hair, glasses and a business suit with a red tie who, having seen the child, had to smash onto his brakes to stop and had also made a phone call to someone before getting out of his car and got a bit closer to the giant child...and he realised what had really happened already.

"We're in big trouble." Mushu said, worriedly.

Nick made to go up to his brother, but was held off by the man who told him extremely firmly, "You hold it right here."

"Dr. Hendricks!?" Ven, Lea, Isa, Mickey and Goofy exclaimed, recongising him.

"This is the doctor you mentioned?" Strelitzia asked, and now nervously, knowing that they weren't going to get out of this one.

Charles Hendrickson glared at the five students and muttered, "Ah, five of the students of that useless Academy. Can't even keep teenagers out of trouble."

"Hey! We only got caught up in this by accident! Besides, this is a two year old kid that just needs to go back to normal size and back to his normal life as a normal kid." Lea pointed out, glaring back.

Iago, seeing this, shrieked before flying up to the teenagers and muttered worriedly to Ven in a somewhat sing-song tone, "Ven...we're in trouble here."

Hendrickson turned to both Strelitzia and Mandy who shrugged slightly.

"I too got caught in this by accident. I was only trying to help my new friends." Strelitzia said.

"And I'm just the baby-sitter." Mandy added.

"Right." Hendrickson muttered, before glaring at all of the teenagers, saying, "You and that 'child' are going on a trip and your parents are going to join you when they arrive."

Before Ven and the others could protest, Hendrickson quickly added to him, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Goofy, Strelitzia, Iago and Mushu, "Not you all. I have another place in mind...and you can say goodbye to your school and get to do home-schooling."

"What did you say!?" Ven grunted.

* * *

The place Hendrickson had in mind for Ven and friends, minus Nick and Mandy, were the prison cell in the Police Station in town, as the man had called the authorities to have them arrested for no real reason.

"We're so gonna get kicked out of the Academy, and there's no way any of us are gonna be able to graduate or even join the ShinRa Company...I won't be able to become a Turk!" Lea cried out in dismay and utter crushing hopelessness.

"Looks like we really blew it this time. There's no way the Headmasters are gonna forgive us for this." Ven muttered in crushing defeat, his heart hanging heavily.

"Hey, ya'know. What if Dr. Hendrakeson, um, Hendorkson...er, Henpen..." Goofy tried to say Hendrickson's name but couldn't, before shruggin and said, "Ya'know, that feller...what if he ends up kickin' everybody out and the school closes?"

This was true. Now that they all had been caught and despite not having full involvement of the mess with Wayne and his family, this was Hendrickson's reason to force Radiant Academy to close down and get demolished...all because of what happened today.

"Welp..." Mickey sniffled, trying hard not to cry, but was heart-broken at this realization. "I guess we really lost the Academy for good..."

"And we'll get blamed and humilated for the rest of our lives." Isa sighed.

"Yeah, and then we'll just end up sellin' ice cream cones during that time too and be sore losers." Mushu grumbled.

Iago would've responded, but due to his loud voice, he was chained up and had his beak clamped shut by a cuff. So he could only groan loudly and glare at all of them in sheer annoyance.

Strelitzia felt sorry for the boys, but knew there was nothing she could do. She was just a visitor and all she could do was sigh in hopelessness. They all failed to keep Adam safe from Hendrickson and now their lives as well as many others in Radiant Academy and the lives of Nick and his family were ruined, and all of their futures no longer existed.

Just then, the Police guard came to their cell and unlocked it, saying to them, "All of you; out. There are people waiting for you." while also freeing Iago who panted and gagged.

Despite gaining access to freedom, feeling like that the Headmasters already know, Ven and the others slumped their heads low, accepting to suffer their severe punishment, while Iago groaned in irritation, "Finally."

Strelitzia had no idea why she too was being released so quickly, but she joined her new friends with guilt for the fact that they were all going to lose everything in a matter of a few minutes. To Ven and the others' confusion, though, it wasn't the Headmasters they were expecting.

It was Aqua, Reno and Tseng who, the latter looked rather livid. Reno on the other hand, immediately rushed over and pulled his sullen and miserable cousin into a tight hug in sheer relief.

The Turk on the other hand, pointed at the door without saying anything towards the van he'd driven in to pick up the others. Ven and the others, and even a slightly nervous Reno who hadn't done anything, and a very guilt ridden Aqua, and a slightly terrified Strelitzia quickly hurried to obey the silent command before Tseng followed them.

Once they were all in the van, Tseng didn't immediately drive off. Instead, he gazed at all of them, demanding, "What in Leviathan's name were all of you thinking!?"

The group shrunk back and even though Reno wanted to know what the hell happened that got his cousin and their friends and some poor new girl arrested, he didn't say anything as he felt as though Tseng was lecturing him as well.

"It was my fault, sir." Aqua spoke up, guiltily, before anyone else could say anything. "I was babysitting the Academy's visitor's children when they got involved and we didn't pay attention..."

She and the others then proceeded to tell Tseng and Reno about the misadventure that started with the Twins, met Strelitzia who decided to help find them and then by the time they had found them thanks to Wayne Szalinski, the said man had somehow made his two year old son first grow to seven-feet-tall and then while she, Melody, Sebastian, Donald and Daisy went back, Ven and the others stayed behind to try and help the Szalinski family to get Adam back to normal and the current absence of Wayne and his wife Diane, and how Adam then strangely grew even taller and how Dr. Hendrickson found them, Nick and the babysitter Mandy and took all of them into custody, with Ven and the others having been resulted to be arrested.

"Um...H-how much trouble are we in, sir?" Mickey asked, hesitatedly.

Tseng, having heard everything, somewhat cooled down and instead sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He couldn't blame them for the mess of the, rather unbelievable, incident that occured. Though it was Aqua's responsibility as a babysitter and everyone else only tried to help.

"Not as much as I dreaded. What I would like to know is why Hendrickson decided to arrest all of you for this." The Wutaiian replied.

Tension easing on the group, Lea then said, "Well, see, that guy tried to convince his boss, Cliff-something to talk to the Headmasters in closin' down the Academy and rebuild it to put up some new lab."

"I never liked that dick, but the way how he arrested you guys and now had taken some two year old kid who is totally oblivious in all this is beyond sickening." Reno grounded out, angrily.

"By the way, Aqua. Where' the twins?" Isa inquired.

"They're already back with their parents, since none of them or Miss Farron had any idea what happened this morning." Aqua answered. "When I saw you in the police cars on my way to see how you were doing with the others, I called Reno who then called Tseng to get you out of jail."

Iago rolled his eyes, pointing out in annoyance, "You know, none of us would've gotten into this mess if you didn't drag us into findin' the twins who by then were nearly caught by Pete!"

The only response he got was everyone else giving him dark glares of annoyance.

"What?" Iago shrugged. "Why do I always get the angry stares?"

"It doesn't matter." Tseng shook his head. "All that matters is solving this crisis before Dr. Hendrickson causes more damage."

"You mean you want to help?" Ven asked, surprised.

The Turk smirked a little, "He's not a likeable man anyway."

* * *

With Tseng and Reno joining in with Aqua rejoining them, Ven and the others, in the van, hurried back to the family house where numberous police cars, fire trucks and even Wayne and Diane there along with Hendrickson and another man there.

When they arrived to greet Wayne and Diane, Hendrickson wasn't happy to see Ven's group back out of jail, and definitely not happy to see a Turk here either.

"...And these young children are from Radiant Academy, the school that fails to meet with child safety measures, Sterling, sir." Hendrickson said to the man who was known as Clifford Sterling, his boss.

"Sterling, sir." Tseng greeted.

"Tseng. You have been called into the situation?" Clifford inquired.

"I've heard what truly happened, sir. From the student's point of view and the truth." Tseng responded.

Hendrickson just laughed, as if what the Wutaiian had said was utterly ridiculous. "Sir, with all due respect, you know how children are; convincing adults with false stories."

"If you would so kindly allow me to finish." Tseng told Hendrickson firmly, continuing, "The two of these students that you unfairly had arrested along with the rest these students, are future rookies of the Turks, and this young man, Ventus, is a future member of SOLDIER."

"All they did was make a complete mess."

"Hey! For your information, these guys, most of them being my friends and one of them being my cousin, saved us and the entire world a few months ago, in case you haven't watched the news or read the paper or the online article!" Reno pointed out, glaring at the Hendrickson.

"And I have a feeling it was you who brought those monsters into the city as well." Hendrickson said coldly.

Ven shook his head, "That's not true. None of us had any idea that Hades did what he did. We risked our lives to save everyone. I mean, you can't always predict the future."

"You're just as of a warning as Wayne Szalinski." Hendrickson chuckled.

Wayne this time quickly spoke to Clifford, "Dr Sterling. Dr Sterling, sir. I can reverse my son's growth. Just give me a chance, sir."

"You can?" Clifford asked, sounding curious.

Hendrickson on the other hand, rolled his eyes and asked sarcastically, "Yeah, with what, Szalinski? Coca-Cola bottles? Hmm? Maybe some, what, chewing gum and twine?"

"Just who do you think you are, talking to him and these young people like that?" Diane demanded, angrily.

"Diane, let me handle this." Wayne quickly told his wife, before turning back to Hendrickson and repeated what she said, "Who do you think you are, talking to me and these young people like that?"

Mickey, sensing more tension, hurried over to Clifford and told him, wisely despite his age, "Mr. Sterling, sir. I know what happened today was terrible, and we all had our share of mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes, but we all also learn from them and most of the times know how to fix them. Radiant Academy is a place where everybody learn together, train together, and help and understand each other. Why, that's how most scientists learn in schools in comin' up new ideas, even just a little small rubber-bands and a paper-clip."

"Young man," Clifford began, "Don't presume to stand there and lecture me about great minds and great inventors. Whatever I've been over the years, I've never been a fool or been involved with anyone else who is. I certainly don't intend to start now."

He then said to Hendrickson without turning, "Charles."

"Yes, Clifford?" Hendrickson said, smirking as he expected this to be his victory over the teenagers and Wayne.

The answer he got was the crushing opposite.

"You're fired."

"What!?" Hendrickson exclaimed, frozen in complete shock.

"You're fired!" Clifford repeated, and Reno, Lea, Isa, Mushu and Iago couldn't help but smirk smuggly at the now ex-doctor, while Ven, Mickey, Goofy, Strelitzia, Aqua, Wayne, Diane and Tseng were very relieved, while Clifford turned to Wayne, inquiring, "So Szalinski, what have you got in mind, so we can get that kid of yours back to normal size by bedtime?"

Wayne went on to explain when one police officer came up, saying with concern, getting everyone's attention. "Hold on. We've got a problem. Your son's escaped, and he's over 50 feet tall."

"50!?" Iago exclaimed, shocked.

"How can that kid've gotten any bigger?!" Lea exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.

* * *

The group quickly got into seperate vans and drove off and while they were at it, they all learned that Adam had broke out of the truck which was completely knocked over. From what they were hearing, the kid was just standing there, smiling.

What they heard next was shocking.

"He what!?" Ven cried out.

"He put both Nick and his girlfriend in his pockets and walked off?" Lea added, twice as shocked.

"That's right." The officer nodded.

"Gawrsh, kinda sounds like Adam thought they were toys." Goofy thought, worriedly.

Isa rolled his eyes, pointing out, "Given his current size, to that kid, everyone's just practically toys in his eyes."

"What do you propose is causing him to have this growth phenomenon?" Tseng inquired.

Wayne shook his head, "I don't know."

"They were taking him down the along Copper Mine Road. That runs alongside high-voltage lines." Aqua remembered.

"And he was in the kitchen earlier today when he suddenly grew, right?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah, when I gave him lunch, he was right near the microwave oven." Wayne nodded.

Ven then said, "Then he grew bigger when he was watching TV earlier."

"Of course." Wayne suddenly realised, as all of the pieces were finally put together. "Electromagnetic flux."

"Electromagnetic what?" Reno asked, confused.

"Electromagnetic flux. Around every operating electrical device, there's a flux. Like an electromagnetic force field. That's what's causing the baby to grow." Wayne quickly told them, and soon as he said it, soon everyone quickly understood what he was saying.

"Oh! I get it. So it was electricity that's making him grow." Ven said.

"No wonder he grew like that!" Mickey realised.

Iago, also having heard this, then asked nervously, "Uh...this Electromagnet flux stuff wouldn't happen to include Neon Lights, would it?"

"Yeah, why?" Wayne asked.

"Because judging from the direction your kid's goin', I think he's heading to Twilight City."

The Police officer, having heard an update, turned to the group and muttered, "The bird's right."

"Uh oh..." Ven, Lea, Isa, Aqua, Mickey, Goofy, Reno, Tseng, Wayne, Diane, Mushu, Strelitzia and Clifford all shared a glance, and chorused with horrified expressions.

* * *

The group quickly stopped half way from the entrance of Twilight City and began to get ready.

"So, how're we gonna do this?" Mickey asked.

"According to my calculations, he's gotta hold still for 12.2 seconds." Clifford explained, "His increased mass requires a longer period of exposure."

"You're kidding, right?" Lea rolled his eyes. "No two year old kid can stand still for more than even two seconds."

Wayne agreed, "He's right, doctor. We tried to have his picture taken a month ago. Total bust."

As they were discussing about this, all of the sudden they heard some loud thuds that were coming closer and closer. The group turned to see something coming towards them from the distance, and Mickey, Iago, Mushu, Lea and Reno suddenly felt like they were about to have heart attacks.

It was Adam, and in his pocket, were Nick and Mandy who both just watched while they were stuck as the baby's 'toys'. Thankfully the kid came to a bit of a stop when he saw something that made him curious.

Even Tseng was admittedly shocked and horrified at huge huge the two year old child had grown.

"This is just like King Kong, only with a two year old kid." Mushu muttered, shakily.

Just then, Nick called down to the group, mainly to Diane, "Mom!"

"Nicky, are you okay?" Diane called up, before telling her giant youngest son, "Adam, put your brother down. Adam, baby, Mommy's here."

"Nicky, I'm gonna get you out of here right away." Wayne called up this time.

"Okay, Dad. But hurry!" Nick called back.

"Can't you just hurry up and use a ladder or something!?" Iago cried out, quivering uncontrollably.

Mickey shook his head, pointing out, "I don't think the ladder would even reach up to his knees. What we need is somethin' to get Adam to sit down. Maybe even fall asleep."

That's when Wayne had an idea and said, "I've got an idea. I need Big Bunny. His favorite toy." and before the group knew it, Wayne and a volunteer rushed off, with Clifford's permission after telling him the machine was ready.

"Where's he going?" Aqua inquired.

The group waited for at least two minutes before anything else happened.

"Wonder what Mr. Szalinski has in mind?" Strelitzia wondered aloud.

"Maybe something to get Adam to settle down?" Ven ventured. Just then, they heard the familiar sounds of a helicopter and lights shining. When the group looked up, their eyes widened as only Diane and Clifford and a few others were not dumbstruck like most of them, namely Ven, his friends, and Tseng, were.

"Please tell me I'm not seeing this." Isa groaned aloud.

The helicopter had Adam's favorite toy, which also continued to grow, hooked onto it, and Wayne, with safety and a megaphone, was mimicking a high-pitched voice to make it as though the toy was singing to Adam, singing, " _~Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky, Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are~_ "

"You'd think he'd get a sore throat for doin' that." Reno commented, while Adam, happy to see his boy and starting to feel sleepy, hugged the stuffy and began sucking his thumb.

While this was happening, Nick and Mandy both silently and hurriedly climbed out of Adam's pocket and with Wayne who nodded, all climbed into the helicopter who unhooked the toy, while the baby began to get sleepy and even stand still.

Seeing that this was what they needed, Clifford, with the help of Ven and Mickey, aimed the shrinking ray at the baby and with the help of Adam standing still even just one second, it was enough for the machine to fire up and shoot the laser at the baby and his toy. In a flash, Adam and his toy were instantly back to normal size.

"It worked!" Ven cried out in relief, as Diane rushed over to scoop her baby son and hugged him while Adam, happy to see his mother, hugged her in return, while the helicoptor carrying Wayne, Nick and Mandy landed, and all three of them disembarked.

"I told you my Dad would have a plan." Nick smiled, and blushed when Mandy nodded in agreement and in relief.

"All right!" Ven cheered.

"Oh, thank Ifrit. Everything's back to normal." Lea sighed in relief.

Though when a car pulled up, admitting Hendrickson, he wasn't terribly happy that things had worked out fine, which Diane then handed Adam to Wayne who was happy to see his youngest son back to normal.

"You already returned him to normal? I could've helped!" Hendrickson groaned.

"And why do you say that, Dr. Hendrickson?" Diane inquired, somewhat coldly.

Suddenly a bit nervous, Hendrickson tried to explain carefully, "Because I originally had a plan for more safety measures in putting your son to sleep...with tranquillizer cartridges. They wouldn't have hurt him, I assure you."

Diane somewhat laughed sarcastically, not buying this one bit. The next thing everyone knew, she slugged him squarely in the face so hard that he was knocked out cold. The students of Radiant Academy just stared at her, wide eyed and slack-jawed.

"Never cross Mommy." Wayne told Adam, with a bit of a scared smile.

Clifford then sarcastically called out, "We got an emergency here. Dr. Hendrickson needs help. He's overcome with the prospect of having to find a new career."

"Just don't make that _Hendickson_ sell ice cream." Lea smirked, chuckling. He then turned to speak to Strelitzia, only to find that, to his confusion, she suddenly disappeared and wasn't there. "Huh? Strelitzia? Where'd you go?"

Everyone else noticed that the young woman had simply vanished, until Mickey noticed a piece of paper on the ground. Blinking in confusion, the teenage mouse picked it up and read it.

" _My new friends. I'm sorry to leave so soon, but I do hope to see you all again someday. I am glad that things turned out alright with Adam and the twins. Do take care for your future._

 _Strelitzia._ "

He showed it to the others and they all sighed in disappointment that their new friend had left without saying goodbye and had left behind a goodbye note.

"Who was that girl, anyway?" Reno asked, skeptically.

"Don't know." Ven shrugged.

* * *

From a bit of a distance, near the entrance of Twilight City in a corner, Strelitzia, with a Key-like weapon in hand, smiled as she gazed at the distance where her new friends were still gathered, when a small cat-like little cute thing poofed out of nowhere, troddling over to the young woman.

"This alternate dimension has it's own versions of most of those chosen. One erased and this one taking it's place...all due to Sora. But...no dimension is safe until the last alternate dimension-self of Bhunivelze is truly defeated." The little cat-thing was saying to Strelitzia who nodded.

"Indeed, Chirity. Two were strongly connected. Time is a funny thing." Strelitzia shrugged in agreement.

"I think we should head back to our dimension. Our Serah and Mog are waiting for us." Chirity suggested.

Strelitzia nodded, before holding out her weapon as a beam of light shot out, which then opened up some kind of portal out of this world. She and her companion then stepped through and vanished along with the corridor of light...

 _ **Back to the universe of "Second Chance" series...**_

* * *

 _Back with Ven and the others..._

"So, how was looking after the twins before this occured?" Tseng inquired to Aqua.

"Babysitting was...um..." Aqua began.

"Exhausting." Iago whispered to Mushu.

"Terrifying." Mushu whispered back

What Aqua said next made Iago's blood run cold.

"I've love to look after them again, if their parents need it." Aqua replied with a warm smile.

Eyes bulging out in horror, Iago then fainted with a groan and Mushu have to catch him before he collasped onto the ground.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: I bet you weren't expecting a slight cross-over that Strelitzia was actually from my other series "Second Chance" franchise, huh? This will be mentioned in both "Kingdom Hearts III: Second War" and possibly a side-story set during the events of "Second Life", "Second Life-Secret Episode" and "Kingdom Hearts III: Second War".**

 **I know this isn't the best, but this was taking too long so I had to cut out a few things from this episode. Hopefully I'll get the next episode up and running before Christmas. And if not, then I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year if this next episode doesn't get posted until early next year.**

 **See you then!**


	8. Episode 8: 'Tis the Season

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: As a little treat, here's a Christmas chapter, and it's based on one of the Pikachu Johto Winter Shorts.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 8: 'Tis the Season.

It was the time of year again. Deck the Halls with Bells and Holly, Tis the Season to be Jolly...Okay, okay, I'm getting carried away. But it's Christmas!

Anyway, snow had covered parts of Radiant City and it's forests and most people were getting into the Christmas Spirit for family and friends gatherings and other things to celebrate the most loved holiday. Decorations were up already and so were Christmas trees, so everyone was getting into the season.

Like Timon and Pumbaa for example. The two of them were going to stay in a hotel in secret to keep warm for the winter, but that didn't mean they couldn't get in on the fun.

Timon was on skiis and was coming parrelling down on a hill, dressed up in warm winter clothes.

"Hey! _~Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way~_ " He sang, while Pumbaa was building a Snow-Hog.

 _"~Oh what fun is it to ride~_ " Pumbaa continued the song.

" _~In a one horse open sleeeeeeeeeeiiiiggghhhhh~_ " Timon sang, but wasn't paying attention as he went sliding past one part of Radiant Academ and accidently slid right up into a tree, crashing upward, yelping, "Ow!"

Ouch.

* * *

Okay, let's be honest. Not every Christmas goes according to plan. Because something is bond to go wrong, like it mostly does every year.

Now, in the field near the training grounds, Ven, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Minnie, Terra, Aqua, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, Iago, Mushu, little Sora, little Riku, little Kairi and Genie were playing a game of Snow Bowling, using bowling ball sized Snow balls to knock down empty plastic cola bottles.

Hmm...maybe Ven's snowball will accidently hit Mickey.

The teenager concentrated and focused, taking careful aim before letting it roll. The Snowball rolled and rolled and successfully scored a strike on the bottles!

"Yeah, alright!" Ven cheered, as did his friends.

What I said about hitting Mickey...nevermind.

Donald was up next and focused and concentrated and took very careful aim...knowing him, he's bond to have Christmas bad luck and either hit himself or someone else. He rolled the Snowball and it rolled towards it's targets...only to shift off course and roll onto the snow and came to a stop, not even hitting the bottles that Lea and Isa reorganized.

Well...at least he didn't even hurt himself.

"Aw phooey." Donald grumbled at his bad aim. He and the others then stumble back when Genie came for his turn...

Only for his snowball to be half the size of a body and concentrated so hard that Genie briefly forgot what kind of game this was.

Oh yeah, something is bond to go wrong here.

The magical being then gave out a hollar and rather than rolling his giant snowball, he threw it onto the ground where, instead of being smashed into a pile of snow, it bounced so hard that it catapaulted itself into the sky like a basketball, flying in high speed like a rocket, stunning everyone else. What shocked them even more was a small elf, riding on a reindeer high above the city, carrying a large red sack on their way back to the North Pole when the two then something white coming straights towards them and the two panicked.

Ho, ho, no.

Or, should I say...Ho, ho, ho-WHOA-OH!

Genie's large snowball hit the Elf and the Reindeer who, losing balance in the air, went parrelling down into the city somewhere for a crash landing.

Ven and the others stared in shock, before they glanced at Genie who winched at his accident, "Uh, whoops."

"Someone call an Ambulence before I lose my head." Iago quoted sarcastically in exasperation. "I knew something bad was gonna happen on our first Christmas!" He added to Mushu who in response shoved him off the bench they were standing on, causing Iago to fall and land onto the snow with a thud, "Ow!"

"We have to find whoever was up there and see if they're okay!" Aqua cried out, worriedly.

Most of the others nodded in agreement, while Goofy scooped up Mushu and Iago before following.

Lea lingered behind, muttering to himself, "Could that've been Santa's Elf and Reindeer?" only to be dragged along by Isa who dragged him by the arm.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Pete and Moggler, who as punishment for stealing the scienice teacher's invention after getting arrested by the Police weeks back, were stuck on cleaning an apartment building's outside stairs and the two were not happy for having to spend Christmas doing this.

"Bah humbug." Pete grumbled, clearing away snow for the fifth time today on the fifth layer of stairs.

"Kupo." Moggler added.

Just then, they heard a couple of screams coming from the sky that became louder and louder as they came closer. By the time Pete and Moggler looked up, it was already too late as the Elf and Reindeer crashed into the bad duo who could only shriek for a second before they all went tumbling down the stairs until they were knocked over the railing and fell towards the ground. Luckily, all four of them landed onto a children's trempoline, though they were bounced up into the sky, blasting off, per se.

"When I see those two the next time, I'm gonna get THEEEEEEEEMMMM!" Pete shouted at the top of his lungs while he and Moggler disappeared into the sky(Team Rocket style).

The Elf and Reindeer in the meantime were spinning out of control in the air, while unknowingly to them that several presents were spilling out of the sack and fell into different parts of Radiant City, before the two themselves began falling down towards the ground, already unconscious and dazed. Luckily, Ven and his friends saw this and hurried to catch up to them before the Elf and Reindeer ended up crashing.

"Genie! Quickly!" Ven cried out hurriedly as he and the others ran, or in Iago and Genie's cases, flew.

Genie nodded before zooming up and right underneath the landing point of the falling duo, while building a large giant sized bed, while singing one of the Christmas Carols as he went.

" _~On the Twelveth Day of Christmas my True love gave to me: Twelve supporting pillars, eleven box springs, ten slabs of wood, nine holding ropes, eight Christmas ornaments, seven holding bars, six extra pillows, fiiivvvveee teddy bears(for cute cuddlieness), four first aid kits, three lollie-pops, two extra thick blankets and a giiiiaaant super soft mattress~_ " Genie sang, much to the embarrassment of the others, especially Donald and Iago who facepalmed themselves.

At least it worked, because the Elf and the Reindeer landed onto the giant bed and bounced a little before coming to a stop near the edge of it. Everyone quickly gathered and sighed in relief that the two were not seriously injured.

"Oh, ouchie." The Elf grumbled, pushing himself up, as did the Reindeer. "You okay, Prancer?" He asked to the flying animal.

"Never better. Though whoever threw that Snowball at us is probably on Santa's Naughty List because of that." The Reindeer, named Prancer, sighed.

That caught the group by surprise when they heard this.

"Hold on...Prancer...and Santa?" Terra repeated, in utter disbelief.

Iago, hearing this, bursted out laughing hysterically. "Prancer? That deer's name is Prancer? What kind of a name is that!? Ah ha ha ha!"

"Iago! That's not nice!" Mickey scolded.

"You stop laughing right now!" Minnie added.

"Knowing you, you're on Santa's Naughty List too!" Daisy concluded.

"Give me a break." Iago rolled his eyes, trying to stop laughing. "These guys probably rehearshed their lines for a play or something so much that they think they're Santa's real helpers. Besides, there's no such thing as Santa!"

"Excuse me? Care to repeat that, bird?" Prancer inquired, challengingly.

The parrot shook his head, as though proving his point. "See? They're delusional!"

"We are not!" Elf retorted. He then pulled something out from his pockets and showed some golden badge out to the group to read, saying, "This is proof incase you guys don't believe us."

Aqua gently took the badge and read it with the others lingering around her to try and get a better look, which read, " _Stumpy the Third Ranking Delivery Elf to help deliver secret Santa presents with Prancer the Reindeer on time before Midnight of Christmas Eve._ "

"So...you're like...with the real deal, right? Ya'know, Santa Claus himself?" Lea inquired to the Elf, identified as Stumpy. There was something familiar about this Elf, but he couldn't figure out why.

The Elf went to replay when he gazed at the young redhead, before blinking in surprise and said, "Hey, I know you. You're the one who delivered one of your friend's Christmas list that got lost and accidently stumbled into the Workshop last year."

"Wait, what?" Isa blinked, surprised as he and everyone else gazed at Lea who was just as shocked and stunned as they were. A memory came back to him from last Christmas.

* * *

 _Flash-Back: Episode 14 of Life FAR from Normal-Season 1:_

 _Donald accidently walked in front of a sledge with a driver telling him to look out, and he noticed, screamed and jumped out of the way, but ended up getting his Christmas list blown by a sudden wind._

 _"My Christmas list!" Donald cried out._

 _"Somebody grab it!" Mickey called out, giving chase._

 _Lea was already in line of the list and with a quick reaction, quickly stumbled, calling out, "I got it, I got it, I got it!" and managed to finally catch it, but ended up losing his balance and accidently fell right into the door of one of the fake attractions that resembled to Santa's workshop, accidently breaking down the door and landing right inside._

 _"Ow!" Lea cried out as he hit his head on the floor. Sitting up and rubbing his sore head, when Lea opened his eyes, he was in for a shock. Rather than inside the fake workshop, Lea found himself..._

 _In the real Santa's workshop! Elves working in wrapping presents, machines that aided them, and the door was still down, and when the redhead looked, outside of the exit, it was just snow. Blinking in utter confusion, Lea rubbed his eyes, before checking again. Nope, this was real._

 _Standing up, both amazed and very confused, Lea couldn't help but utter, "Okay...Am I dreaming, or did I just ended up in Santa's workshop for real?"_

 _"Ho ho ho! You must be Lea." a jolly voice spoke, causing Lea to turn around and saw the man himself. The jolly man in the red and white suit, the white beard, and the Christmas list of people's names. Lea couldn't believe what he was seeing._

 _"W-Wait a minute." Lea muttered. "Santa? Okay, now I know I'm dreaming. I was in Christmas Land with my friends and cousin, and, and..." stuttering._

 _Santa Claus smiled, saying, "Don't worry, Lea. You're not in trouble. In fact, you're already on the nice list..." checking up on his list again, before muttering as he gazed at the list in the boy's hand, "Though I'm surprised you have another list on you."_

 _Remembering Donald's list, Lea muttered, "Oh, this? No, this is my friend Donald's Christmas List. He kinda lost it in the wind and I just caught in time to give it back to him, when I somehow ended up...here." still very confused. He was still convinced that he was dreaming._

 _Suddenly realising that Donald would miss out if he lost his list, Lea felt bad for what happened, and, nervously asked the Jolly wise man, "Uh, is it okay if I give you Donald's list so that he could get presents? He sorta missed out on mailing it to you."_

 _"Of course, young man." Santa smiled, "You've been a good boy this year. A troublemaker, I can tell, but I think your good deeds are enough to make you on the Nice List." as Lea gave him Donald's list, before things strangely went white for Lea..._

* * *

End of Flashback:

"Wha...I thought it was just a dream." Lea muttered, shaking his head, until he also remembered the letter he retrieved from Santa himself the following morning and while the redhead had passed it off as part of a dream, now he knew that wasn't the case.

"Uh, now you guys got me confused." Mushu muttered, as confusion was very clear on his face.

"Yeah, before we get further into the details, which one of you threw that snowball at the two of us?" Prancer quickly spoke up, gazing suspiciously at the group who, realising what had happened, all turned their gaze to a very sheepish, apologetic and embarrassed Genie while twiddling his fingers.

"Sorry. It was an accident." Genie shrugged.

The Elf, though, began to panic when he made to make sure the presents he had were still in the sack and realised that when they were missing. "Yeah, well, not only you're on Santa's Naughty List, Genie, now all the presents Prancer and I were gonna give to Santa to deliver to the kids tonight are missing! Now a bunch of them won't be getting any presents this year!"

"Oh no!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Gawrsh!" Goofy cried out, "It's horrible! It's terrible! And it's awful too!"

"No presents!?" Donald exclaimed in dismay.

Lea shared a glance with Isa, muttering a worried, "Uh, oh."

"Ooohh." Sora, Riku and Kairi all moaned in disappointment that Christmas was ruined.

Genie in the meantime, realising his huge mistake, began sobbing pathetically with tears coming out rapidly as he collasped to his knees, wailing, "This is all my fault! It's because of me that Christmas is ruined! Oh, what have I done!?"

"Oh, please! You all are totally ridiculous!" Iago groaned in exasperation. "There's. No. Such. Thing. As. Santa. Claus!"

Everyone else glared at him, with Lea commenting sarcastically to Iago, "Yeah, well, bah humbug to you too, polly."

"Wait a minute." Ven spoke up, getting everyone's attentions. "If Stumpy and Prancer lost the presents, they must've falled somewhere here in Radiant City, so they shouldn't have gone too far, right?"

After the group thought about it, they realised that Ven was right. Plus, if the Presents were scattered around Radiant City, then all they had to do was find them before midnight.

"He has a good point." Terra nodded in agreement.

"If you like, we can help you find the presents and return them to you and Santa." Aqua kindly offered to Stumpy and Prancer.

"Really?" Stumpy replied, stunned as was Prancer. The group nodded, and even Sora, Riku and Kairi were excited to help find the presents to save Christmas. The Elf felt sudden graditude for this and exclaimed happily, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Genie, in hopes to atone for his actions, magically turned himself into a large Elf, still blue skinned, and declared, "Ho, Ho, Ho! Boys and girls, Operation Christmas begins now!"

"You guys go on ahead. I'm heading back to Radiant Academy for nice warm fire and hot chocolate with little marshmellows on the top." Iago yawned, turning to fly back to warm himself up, only to be caught by the tail by Daisy to stop him in his tracks. This caused him to groan and give up, sourly accepting that he's stuck in another mission. "Why do I always get dragged into these things?"

* * *

So the group split up into a few groups in search for the missing Presents across Radiant City. Ven was with Terra, little Sora, little Riku, and Mickey who searched near the riverbank until they spotted one present wrapped in pink paper and yellow ribbon on top boat near the docks. Mickey quickly jumped onto it to get it before the owner of the boat steered the vessel, forcing the Radiant Academy Student to jump ship and leaped off just as the boat left.

Mickey and the present would've fallen into the river had Ven and Terra not caught him on time and with the help of the two children, they pulled Mickey and the Present safely on shore, as they cheered in having found one of the six missing presents to return to Stumpy and Prancer to give to Santa.

In the meantime, the girls and Stumpy were at the gardens which was covered in snow to find one of the Presents until little Kairi noticed something up in a tree, causing Aqua, Minnie, Daisy and Stumpy to see that a long length Present in red paper and green ribbons was on the lowest tree branch. Aqua easily plucked it from the tree and give it to the very grateful Stumpy who placed it into the sack.

In the shopping district, Donald, Goofy, Iago and Genie were scanning the shops and their rooves to see any indication of the missing presents Stumpy and Prancer lost, and successfully found one that was shapped like a bottle in yellow wrapping and pink ribbon, confirming that it belonged to Santa when the owner of the shop it was on top of denied in having a present like that, so that was a lucky shot.

Lea, Isa, Mushu and Prancer in the meantime had to chase after a car to retrieve one of the missing presents that was on top of and in desperate measures, Isa rode on Prancer and quickly grabbed it before the car went too far, much to their, Lea and Mushu's relief.

By late afternoon, Mickey's group had found another present and they regrouped with the rest of their friends, but discovered that they were on Present short.

So all of them now searched around the park as night had now fallen and it was getting dangerously close to Midnight.

"If I were that last present, where would I be?" Mickey questioned as he checked anotehr bush for the fifth time since arriving in the park.

"If you were a present, you would've been under the Christmas tree." Iago pointed out, lazily hovering up to scan the tree he was looking at, nearly half-frozen at this point.

It wasn't until he spotted something yellow and purple stuck on the second tallest branch that he paused before getting closer to it as he landed. Examining it, Iago was convinced that this was the last missing present and called down to everyone else still looking below, "I found it!"

"Nice one, Iago!" Ven cheered as he and the others gathered in relief.

However, as Iago grabbed hold of the present, he struggled to tug it free from the branch, straining himself a little and grunting in sudden frustration, "Come on, you stupid, gift in a box, wrapping paper and ribbon-AWK!" only to yank it free but accidently let go due to the sudden force of it.

"Quick! Catch it!" Mickey cried out hurriedly, as he, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Ven, Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mushu, Stumpy, Prancer and Genie all tried to catch it before it ended up crashing and breaking.

Unfortunately, the present slid and was sent flying into the air. Genie and Prancer made to catch it, but due to being in a hurry, they accidently crashed into each other and fell right on top of everyone else and Iago who tried to catch themselves, ending up in a large tangled pile. While they tried to hurriedly get off of each other, all they could do was watch in horror as the present was about to crash onto the ground and be ruined.

To their surprise, confusion, and relief, Timon, who had recovered from his earlier tree crashing, and Pumbaa, who had just came to see what the commotion was about, caught the present together in surprise when it landed in Timon's paws and Pumbaa's front hooves.

"Boy, didn't see that one comin'." Timon admitted, stunned and confused.

"Me neither." Pumbaa nodded in agreement.

Ven and his friends, Stumpy and Prancer all sighed in relief by the time they untangled themselves and stood up, approaching the two animals.

"Excuse me. Can I have that please?" Mickey kindly asked to Timon and Pumbaa who, glancing at each other, nodded and handed the teenaged mouse the present. "Thanks, fellas."

He then gave Stumpy the present, saying, "Here ya' go. Ha-ha! All the presents are safe and sound!"

"Many thanks to all of you. If it weren't for you, Prancer and I never would've found them in the first place." Stumpy sighed in relief, placing the last found present into the sack.

Iago groaned, "Christmas saved by a Meerkat and a Warthog. Even though this whole thing was a complete waste of time since all that Santa stuff is for kids."

Just then, the sounds of jingle bells filled the air, and everything was lit up by different colours of lights, causing everyone to glance around to see what was going on, until a large red sleigh appeared over them, steered by seven of the eight reindeer and steering it was none other than...

"Santa!" Sora, Riku and Kairi cried out happily. Ven, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Terra, Aqua, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Mushu, Genie, Timon and Pumbaa were struck with awe and sudden happiness, while Iago was dumbstruck, his jaw falling open right onto the ground(literally) in utter disbelief.

The sleigh landed on the front in front of the group, with Santa Claus himself saying with a warm smile to the group, "Ho, ho, ho! I'd like to thank you all for helping to find one of my Elves and Reindeer. But I have some deliveries to attend, and due to your kindess, all of you are on the nice list...even Iago."

"You're welcome, Mr. Claus." Ven nodded happily, as did his friends, while Stumpy and Prancer waved a farewell to their new friends, with Prancer joining his family while Stumpy climbed onboard the sleigh with Santa.

"I knew Santa was real." Mushu grinned at Iago who was still figuretively frozen in shock and disbelief, his mind going slightly numb.

"Thanks again, everyone, and Merry Christmas!" Stumpy waved to the group.

"And a Merry Christmas to you and Prancer and Santa and other Reindeers too, Stumpy!" Goofy replied with a wave, as everyone else did the same.

With that, Santa, Stumpy and all of the Reindeer took off into the sky in the sleigh, while Ven and the others watched them go, knowing that they saved Christmas, were on the Nice List and everyone in the world who were on the Nice List would all get presents.

Halfway from where they were, Pete and Moggler, who were on a night-shift as punishment for not having finished their job earlier today on time, looked around as they all heard noises.

"What's with all the commotion out here?" Pete was ranting, exhausted and tired, while Moggler looked up and was stunned to see Santa's sleigh and tapped his companion's shoulder while the former continued, "If it's those two idiots who messed up our job earlier, I'm gonna get...them..."

He trailed off when he saw what Moggler was looking at. A sudden delight and disbelief but now grown belief filled him as Pete originally didn't believe in Santa, until now. "Oooh! Santa?"

"Yoohoo! Santa Claus, Kupo! Over here!" Moggler called up, immediately wanting his presents.

Pete did the same, "Hey, Santa! I believed in ya all long! Just made a bit a mess. So...where are my presents!?"

While Santa acknowlaged them, he instead tossed at least a hundred stockings full of coal down right on top of Pete and Moggler who were both buried beneath them, and also showering presents to everyone else under Christmas trees, especially at Radiant Academy where the presents for Ven's group waited to be opened in the morning.

"Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!" Santa Claus called out traditionally.

"C'mon, guys." Terra told the group, as Sora, Riku and Kairi, through the excitement, were barely standing up due to being sleepy. "Let's head back and get some sleep so that we can open our presents in the morning."

The group nodded in agreement, as Ven carried Sora, Terra carried Riku, and Aqua carried Kairi, they and the rest of the group thanking Timon and Pumbaa again before leaving, while the two companions, when the students, the genie, the dragon and the parrot were gone, suddenly became showered with their own presents, much to their delight.

"Thanks, Santa!" Pumbaa called out.

"It pays to be on the Nice List!" Timon cheered happily.

Pete and Moggler in the meantime, poked their heads out of their pile, the latter moaning in disappointment, while the former calling out to the now gone Santa, "What about my squirting gun and my yo-yo? I know you can hear me!"

Once again, Ven and his friends all got many presents as did everyone else in Radiant Academy and now Iago was a definate believer of Santa Claus. Even Genie was still on the Nice List due to having helped Stumpy and Prancer.

It was another best Christmas the Students of Radiant Academy ever had, Ven and his group having saved it at the same time.

Well, just because things do tend to go wrong around Christmas, doesn't mean good things don't happen as well during this most loved and joyous holiday of the year.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: I know this chapter is short, but at least it's a Christmas chapter. I won't be able to update this story again until next year since we only have 3/4 weeks left until the end of 2017.**

 **So, until then, Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!**


	9. Episode 9: My Fair Radiant Students

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: So sorry that I had to re-do Episode 9, but I felt that the previous story for it was too off-putting. So, finally, here's the true Ninth episode of Life NEVER was Normal.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 9: My Fair Radiant Students.

In the middle of the night in Midgar Fields outside of Midgar itself, the air was slightly cold despite the early Spring catching up. It was a bit windy too. Two Campers, on a Camping Trip, were shiving in the cold as the wind kept threatening to burn out their Campfire, and even worse, both men knew that this wasn't such a great idea after all.

"Brrr! T-The last of the wood." One Camper shivered.

"But we will freeze! We must have fire!" His friend protested.

As soon as he said that, however, there was an unusual quakes that felt more like giant footsteps shaking the area around the two men who, in alarm, stood up while wondering what was going on while their campfire burnt out. As soon as they looked, however, their eyes widened in sheer horror as a...giant long monster, breathing an icy cold blizzard from it's mouth, stood over them from a small hill and it was heading straight towards them!

Terrified out of their minds, the two campers quickly abandoned their campsite and immediately ran away screaming as fast as they could. Fortunately, the monster didn't follow them.

But this would cause problems to the Midgar Area.

* * *

Meanwhile, just outside of one of the Classes of Radiant Academy, Timon and Pumbaa were sniffling through the bushes and small logs looking for some grubs to eat as they were hungry. Just as they find their luck at a small worm coming out of the ground, a bird quickly appeared and snatched it before flying away, having stolen their lunch!

Their jaws practically hit the ground in shock. What rotten luck!

"Now what're we gonna do? We'll starve!" Pumbaa wailed, as a sad violin music could be heard in the background, while he continued as though it was the end of the world. "Food...Food always makes me hungry!"

Annoyed by the melodramatic preformance, Timon grabbed hold of his friend's snout to shut him up-and also the music cut off-while he said scoldingly, "Don't pout! I hate pouting."

He then continued after releasing the snout, "Now, listen Pumbaa. You think we're gonna find a bunch of bugs? All nicely neat and set up in a tiny buffet, waiting for us to walk up and eat them?"

"WHAAAAAAT!?" A chorus of voices that belonged to Ventus, Terra, Lea and Reno from inside the classroom which echoed from the window that nearly gave Timon and Pumbaa heart attacks shouted.

Wondering what in the world was going on, the two animals snuck up to the window and peeked inside through the field-trip class that admitted Ven, Terra, Lea, Reno, Isa, Rude, Cloud, Zack, Aqua, Aerith, Tifa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, Cissnei, Elena, Melody and Zell, along with not only Teach Mr. Braska, but also Headmaster Eraqus. Apparently what the students heard gave them an assignment that those who shouted were slightly horrified about.

"In case I haven't made myself clear, we are all invited to visit Midgar and, for those who are training to work for ShinRa Company and those who had saved the world from Hades and Chernabog, you will be intending the formal meeting and dinner banquet with the President, his son and the Executives." Eraqus repeated, calmly.

"Uh...sir, does that include everybody else in the Academy?" Goofy inquired after raising his hand to ask that question.

"Well, yes and no." Eraqus softly chuckled. "The younger students, such as those in kindergarden level will intend other Midgar Schools to understand the world better."

He then concluded, "Other than that, I want all of you to be on your best behavior." though he clearly said that almost exclusively to Donald, Isa, Reno and Lea who mentally groaned. "We leave tomorrow morning."

While Elena, Melody, Cissnei, Minnie, Daisy, Aqua, Aerith, Tifa and Goofy were excited for the field trip, everyone else in the Class, including Vanitas who though this was going to be completely boring, were dreading it. Not only that, Mickey, Ven and Terra looked the most worried at the most. They weren't, exactly, cultured or that good mannered.

This was going to be a disaster.

Outside of the class, as they listened in on the conversation, Timon almost instantly had an idea that made him excited. "Midgar, huh..."

He then turned to Pumbaa who looked uncertain, as the former said, "Pumbaa...Sounds like a new place to go...and imagine the field outside the grand city itself! Beetles, Flies, Worms, Caterpillers, Butterflies, you name it! Ooh! And Apins! Ahhh, Pumbaa. You know how long it's been, since I had Apins. I mean really good Apins. Not old Apins. I LOVE Apins!"

"Gee, I don't know, Timon." Pumbaa said, hesitatedly. "I'm not so sure about this."

"Hey, lighten up! One sneaking on board the plane and it'll be free!" Timon said happily, before joking, "Make a pig out of yourself. Whoops! Too late, you already have!" and laughed almost hysterically at the joke, much to his friend's annoyance.

* * *

Later that afternoon in Ven's room, Ven, Mickey, Donald, Terra, Reno, Lea and Isa were all sitting around, still moping at the upcoming assignment for tomorrow. How were they going to go through this without screwing up. Zack and Cloud both leaned against the wall, their arms folded to their chests, and Goofy and Mushu were failing in cheering their friends up.

"Hey, c'mon. Cheer up." Mushu said.

Just then, the lamp on Ven's dressdrawer jiggled before Genie came out, oblivious to the entire situation and said, ready to spread new gossip, "Howdy, kids! Oh, you wouldn't believe where I've been! This delightful little bistro in the Kingdom of Coronia, just before bad guy Garland attacked, he..."

He paused when he saw the moping expressions on most of the group and asked, "Hey, hello. Why the long faces? Things can't be that bad."

"They've been invited to join President ShinRa for dinner and formal meeting with the executives and well...they're not exactly what you'd call truly well mannered." Mushu quickly explained.

Genie gasped, "What!? In front of the President and all those those big shots?! Oh, how humiliating! How embarrassing! How..." he then stopped himself when those who were moping lowered even further in embarrassment, and quickly recollected himself, saying sheepishly, "Eh...ah...like I said, it's not that bad."

"Worse part is, Rufus is gonna be there." Lea groaned, ignoring the last part of the Genie's sentence.

"Aqua's gonna think I'm a big oaf. Even she's cultured, and I'm so..." Terra trailled off, before continuing, "Common, So vulgar. So… unsophisticated."

"Me too." Ven, Reno, Lea, Mickey and Donald all chorused unexpectedly.

"I think you left out philistine along the lines." Isa commented almost sarcastically, while rolling his eyes as Iago, not worried at all, were shapping up his feather-nails with a nail scrapper or whatever you call them.

"Why can't we be more cultured...like Rufus?" Ven groaned.

"Because none of us grew up the way he did, that's why. We're trained to be SOLDIER and Turks, remember?" Cloud shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I'd like to be cultured during things like this, but at the same time, not snobby like the ShinRa kid or Yazoo are Gal-Boring Garden." Reno sighed.

Suddenly Goofy remembered something and turned to Iago, asking, "Hey, Iago. Didn't ya say that you taught Aladdin culture?"

While everyone else except for Iago who grinned, looked at Goofy with skeptical looks, they all suddenly remembered what he was talking about; that year when they were trying to teach Goofy how to properly ride a bicycle.

* * *

 _Flash-Back: Episode 21 of Life FAR from Normal-Season 1._

 _"You guys are the worst teachers I've ever seen since coming back to life." Iago grunted. "Even I can teach people better than that; I even once taught Al' Culture!"_

 _"You? Teaching culture?" Aqua asked, skeptically, "I'm not even sure you even know what it is."_

 _"I do too!" Iago protested, "It's the matter of knowing the short-cut, by two simple rules; One-Never get your hair messed! Two-Quote things."_

 _Reno rolled his eyes, muttering, "But for some of us, we can't help in getting our hair messed up, unless you use gallons of hair-gel to even get super-spiky hair like Chocobo-Boy's, Zackary, Ven's, li'l Sora's and even my hair to even sit straight." while attempting to straighten up his hair in a futile attempt._

 _"That's because you guys are always runnin' around!" Iago pointed out while messing up Reno's hair on purpose to make his point clear._

* * *

End of Flash-Back:

"Yeah, you did say that, didn't ya?" Mickey asked, skeptically to the bird.

"Of course I have, and this is your lucky day, kids! I can teach you culture in the matter of a few hours!" Iago declared.

"You?" Zack and Cloud both asked, suspiciously.

"Piece of cake!"

"Oh, wow." Mushu cheered sarcastically.

Iago ignored the comment and went over to a picture of a flower in a vase, and saying as though he was teaching in a classroom, "Literature, art, education...don't need 'em, because I know the shortcut!"

"You mean the two simple rules?" Reno asked, unconsciously running a hand through his head in a futile attempt to straighten it. "Like, not runnin' around? But Tseng runs around and his hair is still straight."

"Well, he's a professional and like you said, he probably uses hair gel!" Iago pointed out, once again messing up Reno's hair. "But despite the hair gel, a cultured man always has someone else run around for him, or, just focus on your strength and speed and forget everything else."

"Well...okay." Ven nodded, getting the hint. "But what was that about quoting stuff?"

"Yeah, none of us know of any of these quotes and I don't think even Sephiroth or Angeal use quotes." Zack pointed out, before admitting, "Though with Genesis...he likes poerty."

Iago shook his head and pulled out a book from one of the pillows, saying as he showed it to the group, "No sweat, all you need is this; The book of of Witty Quotations! The secret to being witty is to quote witty people."

Goofy thought deepily about it before repeating while Iago said, "Hmmm...The secret of being witty is to quote witty people. Ay-yhuck! Even that was a quote!"

"But, I'm not sure any of us understand what these quotes mean. And what if the President and Rufus don't like this?" Mickey pointed out.

"Don't worry about it. The less people understand, the more they're impressed." Iago replied, taking a seat on one of the pillows to make himself comfortable. "Kids, just memorize that book, then the world is your oyster!"

"Yeah, I already got it memorized." Lea grinned. "Huh, this stuff's gonna be easier than I thought."

"I think we all feel more cultured already." Ven smiled, proud of the quick accomplishments. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as they all thought.

Thanks to Iago, and Goofy's memory.

* * *

The next day back in the fields outside of Midgar, due to a reports of the two campers had said in their panic, ShinRa Company had sent out the Turks to investigate the so called 'monster' that appeared out of nowhere. Legend was taking the lead along with five 2nd Class SOLDIERs with him on motor cycles just in case it would suddenly attack and damage the helicopter.

So far, they found nothing.

"Geez, those geezers were hallucinatin'. I don't see anything out of the-WHOA!" Legend cried out in alarm suddenly as his bike hit a slippery slope that caused him to fall off this bike and crash onto the icy ground. The same thing happened to the SOLDIERs and were sliding out of control straight towards him, despite his calls, "Whoa, hold up!"

All of them crashed into the Turk and they all slid a bit further before finally stopping. When they looked at what in the world they hit, they were struck with confusion as it was fresh ice, not snow, but frozen solid and smooth and cold ice that didn't even melt when Legend slid his hand on it to feel it.

"Now that's just weird. Where'd this come from? It's Spring!" Legend asked, blinking, only for him and his patrol to feel the ground quaking. When they all turned to see what was going on when they felt an icy chill, their eyes widened as...the very same monster the two campers reported was right there, almost right over them, and it was blowing rather a blizzard spell!

"Retreat...!" Legend muttered, knowing that fighting that thing would only get the 2nd Class SOLDIERs who were not yet trained for this sort of thing killed. Immediately they all hurried onto their bikes and trying to avoid in slipping for the second them, they all sped away back towards Midgar which would now be in danger.

* * *

Almost at the same time in the Park in Midgar, having already arrived and given special suits, Ven, Terra, Lea, Isa, Reno, Rude, Zack, Cloud, Mickey, Donald and Goofy were all now wearing uniforms specifically for the evening. Ven, Terra, Zack and Cloud were all wearing SOLDIER 3rd Class Uniforms and given permission not to hear helmets, Lea, Isa, Reno and Rude were wearing clean full own Turk uniforms, even though both Lea and Reno were looking quite uncomfortable with their shirts tucked in, their blazers closed, wearing ties and their hairs perfectly slicked smooth due to having used gallons of hair gel, and Mickey, Donald and Goofy were also wearing suits, but unlike the future Turks, they had bow-ties.

Even Ven, Terra, Zack and Cloud's hair were slicked back smoothly with gallons of gel, and all of them looked rather cultured. Almost.

"Guys, babies. Work with me on this one." Iago said, impressed with their hair and such, and was now working on the next phase of acting like cultured young men. "Except for Rude, since he's cultured enough, try to look a bit snootier. Like you smell somethin' bad."

Despite the mental complaints, the said group close their eyes and stick up their noses, but it wasn't enough.

"No, I mean you smell somethin' really bad, like...desert aged camel cheese." Iago explained.

"Allow me, sir." Genie, who turned himself into a butler, hovered over with a plate and on it, a very smelly old poop-looking cheese that made everyone cringe, groan and look utterly disgusted.

"Perfect!" Iago said at the way how the future SOLDIERs, future Turks, Mickey, Donald and Goofy looked, while Mushu sticked his tongue out and covered his nose in an attempt to block out the horrible smell. "Darlings, hold those looks, babies! That is you."

"Oh, man...I don't feel so good." Mushu moaned, turning green and feeling like he was about to vomit due to the horrible stench of the cheese.

"Hey." Aqua's voice called up, as she approached the group. "The others and I have been looking all over-" she cut herself off when she noticed not only their new uniforms, but also the change in the hairstyles of most of them. "What happened to your hair?"

At Iago's nudging, Terra pulled out the book from his pockets and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for and said, professionally as though he were a real SOLDIER, "Uh...Hair is but the outward ornament, while true beauty lies within."

"What are you talking about?" Aqua asked, puzzled.

"A good talker implies a good audience and impression of your superior."

Realising what her boyfriend and friends were trying to do, Aqua smiled softly and said comfortly, "Oh, you're worried about messing up at the formal dinner tonight, aren't you? Well, there's nothing to be worried about. You just have to be really careful and behave."

' _Easy for you to say._ ' Lea thought to himself, before standing straight and cutting those thoughts away. He wasn't even allowed to think of those thoughts.

"Aqua, we don't want to embarrass ourselves." Ven sighed, before Iago landed on his shoulder and nudged him, quickly reminding him to be culture and cleared his throat, correcting himself as he had memorized the quote Terra had said. "Uh...ahem, while shame keeps its watch, virtue is not wholly extinguished."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Aqua shook her head, before walking away and told the group, "I'll be back when all of you are normal again."

Seeing how it didn't impress Aqua, Ven, Terra, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Isa and Reno all groaned and sulked.

Mickey sighed, moping, "We'll never impress anybody like this."

"You're doing great, sweeties. You all just need to work on your delivery a little bit!" Iago praised, despite that Mushu was glaring at him.

Whatever else the students wanted to say was put on hold, when everyone heard the sound of motorbikes coming towards them, just as Legend and the SOLDIERs that were with him came in a huge hurry, much to the group's alarm.

"Head for HQ! Gotta tell the boss about this!" Legend cried out, only to skid to a stop when Genie stood in front of him while holding out his hand to halt the Turk.

"I must insist that you check your motorcycles at the Midgar Entrance." Genie told them culture-like, only to panic when the Turk and SOLDIERs didn't listen. He tried to run away when they rode again, only to accidently run on top of him and comically flattening him like a pancake before they disappeared around the corner towards Sector 8 to the ShinRa building.

Poor Genie was not only flat like a pancake, but he also had tire-marks on him. Weakly pulling himself up, he waved while saying painfully, "Good day to you, sir."

"What's with the hurry?" Isa inquired to one SOLDIER that did stop and greet him and the others.

"There's a giant ice-breathing monster out in the Midgar Fields. Probably gonna end up freezing Midgar into a giant ice-cube." The 2nd Class SOLDIER said while waving a goodbye to the group before riding away again to join the other SOLDIERs and Legend.

That got most of the group's attention as they shared concerned and suddenly serious expressions, returning to their normal selves.

"A giant ice-breathing monster?" Ven repeated. "Maybe we should check it out."

"Yeah, that thing is definitely new. And to breath ice? Now that's really serious." Lea nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well, leave it to a Fire-Breathing Dragon to solve this problem!" Mushu declared, ready for action.

Reno nodded in agreement, "Count me in!"

"Guys, guys, guys!" Iago quickly interfened, "The hair! The hair!"

"But...what about the monster?" Zack protested.

"Are you all gonna muss up your hair without permission? Answer-no!" Iago pointed out, reminding them, "Remember, a cultured man has someone else run around for him. Delegate responsibility!"

Seeing the point and not wanting to get into trouble, not to mention that they were really still students of Radiant Academy, the group knew that Iago was right. Besides, they all had to be ready for tonight and for their future.

So, Ven turned to Genie and suggested, "Well, maybe you can go check it out, Genie."

"Expertly delegated, sir!" Genie saluted proudly.

* * *

Almost half an hour later, Genie turned himself into a red helicopter and flew through out the fields which also had large rocks and a couple of hills and cliffs through out the area and further out from Midgar while investigating on the giant ice monster.

" _Traffic's pretty light out here in the fields. Temperatures will be in the 20's. KGNE news time 3:37._ " He was saying to himself as a radio host before finding a decent cliff and landed safely while turning back to normal.

"Nothing over there, or there, or there!" Genie said, while when he said 'or there' twice, two more heads grew on his shoulders to look in different directions, and when he felt a huge rumble below him, he looked down below, saying in unison with all three heads, "But I think we've got something down there!"

Just as the two other heads disappeared, Genie then dove off the cliff like he is about to jump into a pool...and crashed into the ground, buried up to his legs. He also nearly crashed into Timon and Pumbaa who were enjoying some grubs they dug up after having arrived earlier.

"Hey, watch it!" Timon yelled at Genie.

"I think he's gotta work on his landing." Pumbaa muttered, only for him and the other two to unexpectedly be walked over by something that flattened all three of them comically like pancakes.

When they all pulled themselves up-right, they all stared in shock and horror at whatever had went by them, with Timon asking incredulously, "What the heck was that!?"

To answer his question, he and the other two caught sight of...a giant Caterpiller? It was naturally green on the skin, almost metal like, with huge pupil-less eyes, it's mouth holding some funnel like a cannon, and it was about the size of a building!

"That's a _**big**_ Caterpiller." Genie commented.

"And not a tasty-looking one." Pumbaa shook his head, worriedly.

"Doesn't look like even a real one either." Timon agreed.

"Do you fellas mind helping me with that big problem?" Genie proposed.

The next thing that happened, while the giant Caterpiller continued on like it was a casual day, Genie, along with Timon and Pumbaa, all dressed up like motor-cycle police, hovered over-via Genie's magic-and floated next to the giant monster, with Genie signaling for it to stop in it's tracks. It did so, being pulled over, while the trio went up close to it's face on it's front.

"Okay, pal. Where's the ice?" Timon inquired...only to be frozen in ice when the Caterpiller froze him, Pumbaa and Genie into an large ice-block instantly. He then asked while frozen, "It is cold, or is it me?"

"It's freezing-freezing!" Pumbaa replied. They all dropped to the ground until Genie freed all of them and himself before they were nearly hit again but managed to dodge this time.

"Do you realize you're upsetting the delicate ecological balance of fields of Midgar!?" Genie scolded at the Caterpiller, only for it's eyes to 'open' like a hatch and within it, confirmed Timon's earlier speculation of not being a real Caterpiller at all. Instead, it was a machine with a control room hidden from within the eye hatch...and to Genie, a horribly familiar man at the controls.

"Indeed. It's all part of my newest experiment." Said Hojo who grinned evilly.

"MAD SCIENTIST!" Pumbaa screamed hysterically in horror while Timon stood frozen in horror.

"Hojo!" Genie gasped, recongising the scientist from Paris who nearly put Donald into deep sleep before being stopped and then arrested by the French Authorities...though in retrospect, everyone knew that the French Police were not like the Turks.

Genie then turned himself into a news reporter and began, breaking the fourth-wall, "I'm here with Hojo, the mad scientist." before he held the microphone to the man and questioned, "Tell us about your latest diabolical scheme."

"Well, it begins with eliminating a certain annoying genie and his two knew animal cohorts!" Hojo grunted, quickly irritated.

"Hey! My friend and I came here for some grub!" Timon yelled back, just as annoyed. "Do you know how hard it's been looking for some during winter!?"

The only answer he got was being given another frost-bite by Hojo's machine which also gave Pumbaa and Genie shivers-literally. Though this time they weren't turned into ice-cubes.

"That does it. I've had it." Genie growled angrily at Hojo, before enlarging himself into the height of the machine and turned himself into the Terminator, bringing out hundreds of machine guns and aimed them at Hojo's face while saying in an Austrian accent, "Two can play the giant robot game, Hojo!"

"Hold on a minute, if you please." Hojo requested while holding on hand up, rather too calmly.

"You give up?"

"No, I was wondering if you can pull this ship out of the bottle." Hojo requested, pulling out a glass bottle with a miniture ship in it while pulling out the cork. Instantly, both Timon and Pumbaa looked at each other questionly, wondering what the guy was thinking now.

Suddenly thinking that this was a harmless request, Genie shrugged, "Sure, no problem."

But as he turned back to normal before shrinking himself down to begin in getting it out, to Genie's and the animals' dismay, the moment the former was inside, Hojo instantly replaced the cork and laughed evilly.

"You insufficent fool!" Hojo cackled.

Realising this and remembering too late the last time this happened, Genie groaned in self-stupidity, "Oh, I can't believe I fell for the old ship in the bottle trick again!" hitting his head against the mast of the miniture ship.

Seeing how now Hojo had the upper hand, Pumbaa turned to Timon and asked, "Should we run for our lives?"

"Oh yes, lets." Timon agreed.

Too bad they never got the chance even to scream, because Hojo was on step ahead of them as all of the sudden, the two friends were caught in a net and instantly brought into the control room, where they hanged from the ceiling and the mad scientist grinning evilly.

"Pitiful specimens. The world is full of fools with no minds. Never to think. Only men like me to think!" Hojo cackled evilly, as he then turned his attention to the controls once more as he concluded, "Nothing will stand in the way of freezing the world to prove the scientific theory if humanity can survive the permament Ice Age."

Timon and Pumbaa, trapped in the net, gulped nervously as they shared a terrified glance. This was not looking good at all.

"Hey, I was just about to say that, lady!" Timon shouted at the Authoress(Me), breaking the fourth wall.

I was just about to let you say that, but, never mind. (Whispering while making sure Hojo doesn't hear me) Don't worry, I am not letting the world end to this Nut-job.

Okay, back to the story.

* * *

Fully unaware of what happened to Genie, most of the students were attending the formal meeting/dinner with the headmasters and the executives, including a new guest the President had invited. Not everyone was present, as some of the Turks and SOLDIER had left to keep the so called 'monster' at bay from Midgar, though they haven't reported back yet, but the President didn't want to cancel tonight.

Anyway, the new guest was Kinoc, a very rich business man from Bevelle City, having recently helped to create more jobs through out the world. He seemed friendly enough, and very cultured.

And so far, Ven and the others were doing very well in following along in being well mannered an cultured...though the girls and the rest of the students didn't agree to this new change.

Even Rufus didn't seem that impressed either, and that was saying something from the snooty future Vice President.

Most of them were laughing politely and those who had never met Iago before didn't seem to mind in having him around, especially since he seemed well behaved and mannered as well, even cracking their idea of humorist 'jokes'.

"Kyahahaha! Such amusing story, Kinoc." Scarlet cackled, "Perhaps you can share us with a joke."

"I'm afraid I am not a humorist." Kinoc chuckled, before gazing at Ven, suggesting, "Perhaps one of our young friends from Radiant Academy, Ventus, will tell us one of their jokes?"

A moment of pause.

Finally, it was Ven who spoke up politely, remembering the book of witty quotations, "My jokes are but the threadbare jests of a threadbare jester." impressing almost everyone.

"Yes!" Iago and Mushu cheered silently as they high-fived in success, while the girls shook their heads but were not noticed.

"But, jesters do often prove wise men." Kinoc replied.

"Even a fool when he holds his peace is counted wise." Ven responded, and the executives, except Rufus, all applauded to the teenager and he smiled along with his friends. Missions accomplished!

Iago went up to him and the others, praising, "Way to go, Ven! I don't think anyone knew what that last one meant."

"Um, excuse me." Melody spoke up while rising her hand, "But, could some of us be excused, please?"

While wondering what the twelve year old girl had in mind, the President and the Headmasters allowed the permission. Thanking them, Melody, Aqua, Aerith, Tifa, Minnie and Daisy stood up while each taking Ven, Terra, Lea, Isa, Cloud, Zack, Reno, Rude, Mickey, Donald and Goofy out of the diners room and took the elevator to the Helipad outside, with Mushu following.

"Mel', Mel', Mel'! The hair, the hair!" Ven protested while Melody had dragged him by the collar of his uniform.

"Aren't you all worried about Genie?" Minnie asked in annoyance to the group who had decided to take up culture lessons. "He should've been back by now."

That was true. Genie was late and he hasn't been back yet and he did promise to return before the event started. But he wasn't. That was worrying.

Still, Ven and the others knew that they had to be culture.

"Well...maybe we can ask Mr. Tseng to go find him?" Mickey suggested.

"I'll send Reddy." Ven spoke up. "And if he's not back either, then we'll ask Tseng."

Shaking their heads, the girls turned to the horizon which overlooked the city as Daisy whistled out. The red carpet, who had been waiting at the hotel, heard and flew over to the group, magically enlarging himself to make room for all of them.

"We'll go." Aerith declared, referring to herself and the girls.

"Aerith, fools rush in where—" Zack was cut off when his girlfriend shoved him onto the carpet, along with the rest of the boys, including Mushu, by the other girls who joined them.

"Then we're going to be fools." Tifa replied firmly, having enough of this before she and Melody directed Reddy to head out into the field of Midgar.

Iago, having took the elevator, arrived just as the group flew off and he landed onto the edge of the helipad, before turning around and sighed in relief, "Phew! For once they didn't drag me along on their stupid—awk!" only to be cut off when the group had circled back and Aqua snatched him up to join the ride, much to his dismay.

* * *

As they searched through the small canyons half an hour away from Midgar, the group were puzzled when they noticed something shiny on the ground and came to a stop, hovering over it.

"Is that water? How strange." Aqua asked. But when she leaned down to touch it, her eyes widened as she realised that it was water alright...but frozen...like...

"Ice?" She asked, blinking.

But the moment she said this, the ground suddenly shook and when the group turned to see what was going on, the two rocks they flew over became frozen solid in ice. Their eyes widened in horror as the giant Caterpiller emerged from behind the rocks, towering over the group who all felt their hearts stop for a second or two.

"That's a _**big**_ Caterpiller!" Terra commented, horrified.

"And not a friendly lookin' one." Reno shuddered, eyes wide in horror.

"Doesn't look like a real one, either." Rude added, eyes wide in horror behind his shades.

Seeing how they were in trouble, Ven quickly instructed Reddy to fly away. But as they all flew high to escape, the Caterpiller was faster as it opened it's mouth to lower the funnel-cannon and shot out a net right at the group, catching them easily as they all screamed while being pulled into the Caterpiller's mouth, trapped.

Stuck in a net, Ven and his friends were all struggling to free themselves while they were being drawn up into the cockpit of the machine, hanging from the ceiling, next to Timon and Pumbaa's net which the group quickly noticed.

"Hey, it's the Meerkat and Warthog from Christmas Eve." Goofy pointed after noticing them.

"Yeah, hi." Timon greeted sarcastically in annoyance, "How's the catch?"

"How did you fellas get here?" Mickey asked, stunned and confused.

Timon and Pumbaa simply pointed at the window and main controls of the machine, and when the group looked, the eyes of Ven, Melody, Reno, Lea, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Iago and Mushu widened in shock as Hojo turned to greet them and their friends.

"Well, we meet again, boy. I must admit, I did not expect you all to be here in Midgar." The mad scientist greeted, mainly to Ven.

"Hojo!" Those who knew the man exclaimed.

"Ooh...Not him!" Donald groaned in dismay. He remembered that mad evil man who made him sick in Paris and nearly put him into a permament coma.

"This is the guy who made Donald sick?" Zack asked, incredulously as he and the others had heard of the adventure that happened a while ago.

Reno nodded, "Yeah, he's the Nut-job, alright."

All culture lessons forgotten after realising that Hojo is behind all of this, Ven demanded angrily, "What'd you do to Genie!?"

Hojo smirked, while silently gesturing at the bottle that rested on the table. Inside, Genie had turned into a pirate out of boredom.

"Arr, me hearties! Batten down the h—" Genie played before noticing he and Hojo had more company and, recongising his friends, went out of character and waved sheepishly at Ven, "Oh, hi, Ven. Uh, he tricked me, sorry." before turning back to normal.

Ignoring the Genie, Hojo went up to the captured group, and noticed the difference Ven and most of the others had, commently sinisterly, "Well, you all look polished and cultured. SOLDIERS and Turks? Then how is it that you all managed to keep yourselves nice and clean?"

Realising how this mess started, Ven and the others glared at Iago, who glared back while asking accusingly, "Oh! So it's my fault most of you listened to me?"

"So, what's your crazy plan this time, Proffessor Creep-Show?" Lea inquired while glaring at Hojo, ignoring Iago's question. "Freezin' Midgar into an ice-cube?"

Given how this machine worked, it hadn't taken them long for them to figure out that it was another one of Hojo's evil plots.

"So, there are brains inside you. I admit, that took me by surprise." Hojo grinned, "But not just Midgar even though it is the first on my list, but the entire world into a permament Ice Age, to prove the theory if humans to this day are capable of surviving it as our ancestors did in the previous one."

"Let me get this straight; you're gonna turn the entire world into a refrigerator!?" Iago asked, shocked and annoyed.

"I would like to use the term of freezing the world into an Ice Age, but yes, you are correct." Hojo replied, annoyed with the bird. He then grinned again as he added, "I should thank Kinoc for his assitance of this development."

Wait, did they all hear him right?

"Kinoc? The businessman?" Cloud asked, unable to believe what he heard.

"From Bevelle?" Tifa added, eyes wide in shock.

Hojo blinked, admittedly surprised, "So you met him? Polite man, very cultured. He's the businessman who sold this iron to make this machine. While he didn't agree with my experiment, but he made a mint in the bargain."

The group could hardly believe it. Kinoc had ultimately betrayed the world to this evil idiot, all for money!

"Kinoc that rich for selling out the world!? Ooh, that jerk!" Tifa grunted angrily.

"That stupid manipulative son of a Ifrit!" Zack grunted, just as angry.

Mickey, knowing what had to be done and, remembering a previous idea, asked innocently, "Say um, Professor. I was just wonderin'. How do you get that ship into the bottle?" while silently shushing his friends to play along.

Hojo, obviously having forgotten the last time, responded, "Quite simple, since I have been studying it for years." he then approached the bottle while continuing, "You do not build the ship and then put it into the bottle. You build it inside and then-"

But as he removed the cork to demostrate, Hojo was shocked as Genie came zooming out, growing to normal size and the latter cheered happily, "Way to go, Mick'!"

Timon and Pumbaa laughed hysterically at Hojo's expression while the former breathed at the scientist, "You had that comin', old man!"

Hojo grunted angrily, while hitting himself on the head for his own stupidity, "Ugh! I cannot believe I've been fooled into the old " _how do you get the ship in the bottle_ " trick again!"

"Get 'im!" Goofy declared, and when Hojo looked, all of his captives had been freed and were now marching angrily towards him, with Genie holding up the net to capture Hojo to give the villian a taste of his own medicine.

But Hojo was again one step ahead, as he pulled a lever next to him and grinned evilly. The next thing that happened, the hatch opened and everyone else were catapaulted it and flown into the air, screaming in alarm while the hatch closed, the man confident that they would not get in the way as he then controls the machine once more.

Ven and the others in the meantime landed safely when Reddy quickly rightened himself up and everyone landed onto him, and Genie having saved the girls, Timon and Pumbaa, placing them gently onto the red magic Carpet. But as they all flew up, their eyes widened as they saw Hojo's Caterpiller on the move again.

"Oh no!" Minnie cried out. "It's heading straight for Midgar!"

"Gee...sure hope they didn't pay next month's rent." Timon muttered, nervously.

* * *

By the time the group landed on a tall cliff near by and stood near the edge, they watched as Hojo's machine continously froze the ground and began to make it's way into the canyons.

"Ugh! I swear if it's the last thing I'll do, Kinoc is going to pay for betraying the world!" Aqua grunted, still fuming over Kinoc's ultimate betrayal and not having told anyone about this.

"I can't believe we put up with that guy! I thought he was cultured." Isa grunted in frustration.

"Aw, don't worry, fellas. Even the President didn't know Kinoc wasn't completely honest." Mickey pointed out with a shrug.

Iago, having forgotten how this mess started, said dismissively, "Yeah. You know, it amazes me how people fall for that Kinoc. He had even less charm than Ven and the others...till I lent them the book and taught them the hair thing."

When he gazed up at the group, except for Timon and Pumbaa who shrugged cluelessly, Iago saw that his friends were all glaring at him in sheer annoyance with looks that said, 'Really, Iago?'

"Oh, again the staring? So it's my fault you guys are so gullible?" He asked, flying up to Ven's face.

"That does it!" Ven grunted as he grabbed Iago, declaring, "It's time for me and the others to quit listening to your stupid advice and do things our way!" before letting the parrot go.

Timon and Pumbaa shook their heads at this.

"Maybe it's best to call the Turks and SOLDIER about this." Daisy suggested.

"Yeah and knowin' Sephiroth, he can slice that thing into pieces with a single hit." Reno shrugged in agreement.

Rude shook his head, pointing out, "There's no time for that. We have to do this ourselves."

Realising that Reno's best friend was right, the group thought hard as quickly as possible before Cloud glanced at the machine again, before gazing at the canyon and an idea hit him. "Maybe we can trap it in the Canyon?" He suggested.

Cloud then told the group part of his idea.

Ten minutes later, the group arrived at another cliff over the tall canyon, with two large boulders sitting very close to the edge. Cloud's plan was to push the boulders right on top of Hojo's machine and crush it before it would reach Midgar.

"A few boulders oughta put a dent in Hojo's plan." Zack commented.

Once they saw the machine getting closer, the group then pushed the two boulders as hard as they could, only for Ven to notice that Genie was pushing the wrong direction while pushing the boulder Ven, Mickey, Minnie, Iago, Timon, Pumbaa, Mushu, Lea, Isa, Daisy, Cloud, and Tifa were pushing instead of helping Zack, Aerith, Reno, Rude, Melody, Donald, Terra, Aqua and Goofy with their boulder.

"Genie?" Ven spoke up, causing his magical friend to stop as the teenager continued, a little annoyed, "Why not try the other way?"

"Oops. My mistake." Genie muttered sheepishly, before joining the others, and pushed the right way this time.

Just in time, after a few more tries, the group successfully pushed the boulders over where the rocks fell right on top of the Caterpiller, crushing it into several segments. Just in case, though, the group flew down on Reddy and landed on the ground in the canyon, sighing in relief that they had successfully destroyed the machine.

"Alright!" Ven cheered.

"The winners and still Champions, Team Ventus!" Genie, having turned into a referee, declared before whooping the victory chant.

"We did it...we did it...WE DID IT!" Pumbaa cheered happily...only for him and the others to freeze up when they heard hissing and noises behind them, turning around to see, to their horror and shock, that the segments had all stood up, standing up and moving on their own!

"We did it, alright." Timon muttered, worriedly.

"Uh, maybe we should hold off the victory party." Genie muttered, almost sheepishly.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea." Lea muttered, worriedly, taking a step back.

One of the Segments approached, just as Pumbaa gulped, "We're in trouble!" only for him and everyone else to cry out in alarm when the said Segment compartment opened up, revealing an ice funnel. They jumped out of the way just in time as it unleashed a blizzard fuse, freezing part of the ground in ice.

Genie, deciding to take matters into his own hands, went up to the Segment, declaring ominously, "Okay, tin-man! Meet your worst nightmare!" before turning himself into a giant wrench with legs.

"Puh! Yeah...that's gonna work." Timon remarked sarcastically, folding his arms to his chest.

Not hearing Timon, Genie charged straight towards the Segment, only to accidently trip on a rock and flies through the air, getting stuck in a hole in the robot that steam has been escaping from. Realising what's about to happen, everyone else hid behind a rock while Genie tries to pull himself free, as the pressure builds up before the rocket exploded into several pieces, sending him flying again. The others hide behind a rock from the flying debris while Genie landed nearby the group, and still has a piece of metal stuck around his waist.

"Sorry, Ven." Genie apologuised while the said boy and the others approached him. "Guess I blew it." before realising the metal piece and he had to admit, he liked the design. "Say! This could be a new look for me."

"Genie, you just figure out how to stop those things!" Mickey, having seen what happened, praised as an idea came up in his head.

Agreeing with this idea, everyone began to pick up pieces of rock that were perfect fits to stop the machines, as Ven declared leadership like, "C'mon, guys! Let's plug up those holes!"

Which is what they did, as most would leap up and forcefully plug the holes with the rocks, and each time they did, the Segments would explode into pieces, with Genie scoring home as he turned into a player. With only three left, Mushu, Timon and Pumbaa rode on Reddy with one rock each, leaving behind Iago who was struggling to even pick up his rock due to a bad back. The trio then plug up the three robots' holes before flying away, cackling while the the last of the robots exploded.

Seeing their success, the group cheered once more.

"Ugh, oh! I-I almost got it!" Iago strained, having just lifted the rock just a few inches from the ground.

"Iago, you can stop now." Zack told the parrot.

It wasn't until Melody noticed something was off and asked the group, hesitatedly, "Uh...I don't wanna sound pessimistic, but...where's Hojo?"

The sound the question left her lips, the ground shook once more, and the group braced themselves and it wasn't until Donald saw a large pile of rocks begin to move and he cried out, alarmed, "Look!"

To his and everyone else's horror, except Iago who was still lifting his rock, the Caterpiller's head suddenly emerged, with metal wings on it as it hovered over the group.

Inside the cockpit, Hojo grinned evilly as he pulled a lever back and forth, and a large cannon appeared at from the machine's mouth, aimed directly at Ven and his friends.

"Well, you intellectually insufficent fools! I believe it's time for you all to learn the valuable lesson that only people like me shall thrive!" Hojo cackled evilly, preparing to fire at the group...

As Iago had now unexpectedly hovered over the machine, unaware of what was going on, calling down to his friends, "Hey guys, I got it! I got it!" only to let go of the rock as his talons couldn't hold them anymore.

Thankfully, the rock landed onto the cannon, sending the Caterpiller's head down the ground, nose first and the cannon sunk into the ground. Hojo, toppled and flipped upside down, accidently pulled the lever while trying to right himself up and much to his horror and dismay, the machine fired and sent him and his vessel flying into the high, away from Ven and the others who, seeing what happened, smirked as they waved a goodbye to the crazy scientist.

"Now that's what I call a blast-off." Reno joked with a grin.

* * *

Having flown pretty far away to the other side of the world, Hojo's machine crash landed right on top of the peak of the tallest mountain before the power went off. Hojo himself, having a few bruises but was unfortunately still alive, grunted as he was furious for having been defeated again.

"Those insolant brats! They haven't seen the last of me yet!" Hojo growled angrily, as he now plotted revenge yet again...

If he can get down from the mountain, of course.

* * *

In the mid-morning the next day, after Ven's group returned to Midgar to inform everyone else of Kinoc's betrayal, let's just say President Shinra was far from pleased. So as punishment, Kinoc was to collect all of the broken metal pieces of the debries and load them into a cart.

With Legend watching his every move, as Kinoc's clothes were now disheveled.

"Hey, c'mon, ya lazy bum!" Legend couched not to gently, grunting, "Ya sold this junk, and YA gonna clean it! Move it, chop chop!" with Kinock coughing before getting straight back to work after a three second break.

Nearby watching them, were Ven and his friends who had once again saved the day, with Ven, Terra, Isa, Lea, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Zack, Cloud, Reno and Rude back to normal, much to the pleasure of their friends, and all smirking as they saw how fast Kinoc has impressed with his current job.

"Wow, Kinoc's working a lot faster than I thought." Aqua bemused.

"How much longer do you think he'll keep this up?" Isa smirked.

Lea grinned widely, saying with half a joke, "I'd give the loser 'bout, oh, ten or fifteen years." causing his friends to laugh while Iago shook his head.

He then noticed that Timon and Pumbaa had taken the now useless Book of Witty Quotations, and the Meerkat didn't look too happy.

"Pumbaa, will ya' just drop the book?" Timon asked in annoyance.

"Hey, here it is! "Pumbaa, will ya' just drop the book?"." Pumbaa read, before commenting in surprise, "This is really weird." realising that everything his friend said was indeed inside the book.

Timon didn't want to believe it, as he asked, "But how can everything I say be in that?"

The two looked closer at the page, before Pumbaa showed Timon exactly what he said...

And just as Timon was getting more and more annoyed, Pumbaa repeated everything that was strangely written.

"This is the stupidest...I've never heard of anything so ridiculous!" Timon grumbled, and Pumbaa repeated. The former then shrugged before asking as he began to walk away, "How can everything I say be stuff some stupid joker put down on paper?" which again was repeated.

He continued to walk away, Timon by now began to scream in dismay, while every single of his words were repeated, "This is awful! Have I no free will!?" before he finally pleaded in despair, which was also repeated, "STOP READING THAT THING!"

Iago, having heard this, shook his head as he broke the fourth wall by gazing at the viewers, asking in dismay, "Is my history repeating itself or am I goin' crazy?" slapping himself on the forehead.

None the less, after a week in Midgar, everyone of Radiant Academy returned home, with Timon and Pumbaa hitching a ride back to return to Radiant Forest, and despite things returning to normal once again, who knew when the next adventure of the students of the school would happen.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: Again, I am so sorry that this had to be redone and sorry for the delay of re-posting it. Had a bit of trouble on how this would work out. I will try and update this again sooner than last time, but I'm not keeping my hopes up. At the same time, I will not abandon this.**

 **See you real soon in the next episode!**


	10. Episode 10: No Laughing Matter

**Life NEVER was Normal.**

 **Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Here's Episode 10(after having to redo the last episode three times), so get ready! Oh, and a few more Final Fantasy characters make their appearences here today, while this is based on another Disney episode.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 10: No Laughing Matter.

 _Wondering around in a very creepy looking place, Mickey nervously gazed around his surroundings while trying to figure out where he was or how he got here. Once thing was certain, he needed to find a way out. It looked like the hallways leading towards dungeons in the medieval times...or the dark ages._

 _"W-Where am I?" Mickey shakily asked, aloud. He slowly turned around and began to slowly walk backwards, becoming more and more scared by the second. But as he was slowly stepping into the much darker part of the hallway where no torches were lit, behind him, two pupil-less bright evil yellow eyes and an evil smiling mouth suddenly appeared in the darkness._

 _Mickey froze at the sound of a monsterous chuckle and felt his blood becoming icy cold and frozen, his eyes widened as he stopped where he was. Shivering, he slowly turned around and his scream was blocked off when the black monster instantly launged forward and the last thing he saw was it's black-sharp-toothed mouth engulfing him..._

* * *

"Students, wake up!"

Mickey, and a few others who'd fallen asleep in science-history class, cried out as they were woken up by the sound of Professor Von Drake who looked really annoyed. Mickey, Lea, Ven, Donald, Goofy, Myde and even Vanitas all yawned while everyone else shook their heads to snap out of their boredom. Or in Melody's case, her giggles.

"No sleeping in Class." Von Drake scolded, tapping his stick against his palm.

"Sorry, Professor." Mickey shrugged. While he was relieved that what he just saw had been a creepy dream, he was so bored and tired from the long-winded explaination and learning of the previous Professors...And he couldn't remember much since this class was always the most boring one of the Academy.

When Melody giggled at the reaction, Von Drake turned his attention to her and scolded again, "No laughing in Class, either."

"Sorry, Professor." Melody sighed while shrugging.

"Now, back to Professor Duckstein." Von Drake nodded, and while he turned his attention back to the board with pictures of the late famous professors, while unaware that a beetle flew through the opened window and landed on top of his head, and Timon, stalking it in an attempt to eat it, crepted up to it hungrily.

And the students in class didn't say anything and tried not to laugh, now fully awake while Minnie softly gasped.

"He was once partners with Einstien himself. So please, students. Follow the example." Von Drake continued, still unaware and turned around to face the students, and Timon having climbed onto his head slowly, almost catching his prey.

They couldn't help it. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Ven, Melody, Vanitas, Selphie and Myde bursted out laughing along with other students. Von Drake just slumped, only to cry out in alarm when Timon pounced and failed to catch the beetle who flew away, causing the meerkat to accidently shove Von Drake onto the floor before giving chase to the insect across the desk, while the teacher tried to get him out, crashing things while the students watched, laughing the preformance.

Soon after Timon yelled out to the Beetle, "Come back here, dinner!" and leaped out of the window, which Von Drake slammed shut, he turned back to the laughing students who couldn't help themselves.

"Hoo, boy. What's the use?" Von Drake slumped in defeat, and, noticing that it was almost lunch time, declared, "Class dismissed."

"Sweet!" Lea grinned, immediately standing along with his friends. "I'm starved."

"Well, that was an amusing class." Vanitas remarked with a smirk as he walked out of class with everyone else.

"Ooh, food, being lazy. Kids, these days." Von Drake shook his head. "When are any of you going to be more serious?" He called out, before packing things up for a break himself.

* * *

Later in the afternoon once all the classes were dismissed for the day, a very short person at the height of a child, or possibly about Mickey, Donald, Minnie and Daisy's height, a Tarutaru and a female at that in black and gray clothing, with blonde hair bone up in loose pigtails, was walking across Radiant Park, passing Jecht who had decided to relax and was snickering at the comic book he brought with him.

"Hey, whatcha' doin'?" He called up to the passing Tarutaru, who, didn't seem to be in a good mood.

"Always the way to start a day." She began, annoyed. "One thing good or bad happens after another, but what is the most irritating of all, I hate laughter!" She stormed off, angrily.

Jecht raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and muttered to himself, "Geez, one crybaby woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

The Tarutaru rolled her eyes, but froze when she heard the most dreadful sound of all; laughter. She turned to see and groaned in dismay, it was coming from Melody, Minnie, Ven, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Yuna, Tidus, Mickey and even Lea who went hiding in the bushes, while Isa joined them, looking annoyed.

"Ah, hide and seek is for little kids." Isa groaned, before Lea pulled him into the bushes to hide during the game.

"I know, but it's Sebastian's favorite game." Melody whispered, trying to keep her voice down despite wanting to laugh.

"Yeah, because we have to be quiet and he doesn't." Sora whispered cheekily, and the others nodded in agreement.

The Tarutaru rolled her eyes, before hearing another voice, noticing to her right and saw...a red human-speaking crab counting with his eyes covered? He was the seeker?

"...97, 98, 99, 100!" Sebastian, who came to check on Melody again and, having heard that the children were going to play hide and seek, decided to join in, finished counting and called out excitedly, "Ready or not, here I come, man!" and hurriedly began searching for those who were hiding.

Mickey and the others snickered while trying not to get Sebastian's attention, much to the dismay of the Tarutaru.

"Hide and seek? The game is wasteful and weak." She shook her head, while hiding behind a rock to live in her misery.

The crab in the meantion was cheekily trying to find the others all over the Park, until he noticed...blonde hair sticking out from behind a rock and, not realising it was not who he thought it was, grinned as he muttered, "I see you, Tidus."

The group, who saw their friend approached whoever was behind the rock that was not Tidus, gazed while sharing a worried glance. This was not gonna end well. Sebastian victoriously grabbed the hair with his claw, which made Tarutaru yelp before she spun around and glared at the shocked crab who realised was not Tidus, but an angry short human(at least he thought it was a human) glare at him.

Screaming girlishly, Sebastian sped away as fast as he could, only to accidently knock into Mushu who just passing by to Ven, and the two of them ended up being rolled cannon-ball style down the small hill, and then accidently hit Iago who was just about to enjoy a bird bath, but screamed as he saw too late and was joined by the other two. Mickey and the others left their hiding place to follow their three friends while laughing at the situation. Goofy and Genie arrived just in time to see Sebastian, Iago and Mushu crash into and somehow got stuck in a child's beach ball, rolling away into the opposite direction, bouncing out of control, yelping and crying out.

"Hey, what game are you fellers playing?" Goofy called out, as he and almost the rest of the group hurried after the stuck trio, laughing away. Melody was laughing hysterically.

"I'd better go h-help them. I'll be back, Min'." Mickey told his girlfriend while laughing, hurrying to catch up to the others.

Minnie tried and failed to cover her laughter with her hands, saying, "Sebastian, Mushu and Iago look funny like that." giggling uncontrollably again, as the Tarutaru approached, not impressed.

"This noise I cannot bear to hear, it's very annoyinng and greusome, young dear." She told Minnie who tried to control herself when she saw the newcommer.

"W-what is?" Minnie asked.

"Laughter and giggles, high-pitched chitter and moving wiggles!" The Tarutaru grunted angrily, storming up to Minnie who now nervously backed away at the angry stranger.

"Uh...Well, everybody laughs, because they think something is...funny." The student shrugged, only to continue to back away until she accidently fell into the sandpit.

"Funny, you say? If it's me you are laughing at, then you just ruined my day! I shall make you regret this, child. Because your laughter will go wild!" The Tarutaru declared, pulling out a staff with a white orb which glowed under her command. As she continued, white mist appeared from it and then surrounded Minnie who shut her eyes and cried out. "The Earthquakes will tremor, and the ground will shimmer, and it will be your own fault!"

"Minnie!" Mickey, who had heard Minnie's cry, hurried and saw what just happened and made it to his girlfriend too late, as while Minnie was fine and shook away the white mist after the Tarutaru finished chanting. He then glared at the apparent small witch and demanded, "Alright, you! What'd you do to Minnie!?"

"Teaching her a lesson is all, now she will feel awful." The Tarutaru shrugged, not sorry.

"Uh..." Minnie blinked, only to laugh again when Sebastian, Mushu and Iago, still stuck to the ball, bounced by her and Mickey, as did the rest of the group. But as soon as she did, there was a rumbling sound which made her and Mickey stop instantly.

To their horror and shock, as though coming from a chain of reaction, the entire ground shook and the area rocked, and Mickey pulled Minnie protectively in his arms, as a couple of trees were knocked down onto the ground. Genie, turning himself into a see-through ball, had the rest of the group inside him and they were bouncing away while they cried out in alarm just as the quakes stopped and everything settled down.

Realising that everytime now she laughed, the Earthquake would happen, Minnie turned to the Tarutaru in shock, "W-Why would you do such a horrible thing to me?"

"No one laughs at me, not a single tee-hee-hee." The Tarutaru replied, walking off.

"Gosh." Mickey muttered.

"Mickey! Minnie! Are you guys alright?" Ven called out from somewhere.

"Yeah! Over here, Ven." Mickey called out in return.

Minnie, worried over the spell, grasped her boyfriend by the shoulders and muttered fearfully, "Mickey! We have to warn the others not to make me laugh."

"Now, don't you worry, Minnie. I'm sure Genie will be able turn ya back to normal." Mickey told her assuringly.

"That would only spread the spell." The Tarutaru pointed out warningly, as she suddenly reappeared to the duo who backed away in fright, continuing, "It will ruin the world, if you tell. Do not laugh, or giggle, or smile. The ha-ha. And it won't wear off, either. Ta-ta!" and as she spread magic all over herself, the Tarutaru instantly disappeared, leaving Mickey and Minnie on their own, with the warning.

The two shared a worried glance. If they couldn't tell their friends about this, how can they break the curse?

"Whoa, talk about a Earthquake." Lea spoke, as he and the others, out of the Genie ball and not having heard or realised what just happened, approached. Sebastian, Mushu and Iago were still stuck onto the now deflated ball. "Where'd it even come from?"

"Well, uh...good question." Mickey replied, struggling to hide the awkwardness and avoiding in revealing the truth. "I mean, Radiant City never had an Earthquake before, right?"

"I noticed that, after hearing Minnie laugh, the Earthquake just happened. Might be because of bad timing?" Melody shrugged, puzzled.

Mickey and Minnie both jolted in shock, before the latter whispered softly to the former, "Mickey. We have to be very careful what we tell them, otherwise you'll be the only one not having the spell."

Seeing no alternative, Mickey then almost awkwardly lead the children to the direction of the school, saying, "Say, uh, it's gettin' late. Why don't we head of home?"

"Aw, but it's not even five o'clock yet." Sora whined.

"I heard it's gonna rain." Mickey lied, trying to hide the fact that he was lying.

"On a sunny day? I see no cloud in the sky." Isa skeptically said.

"Well, the weather can change. Besides, don't we have homework to do?"

"Homework?" Almost everyone else exclaimed, shocked at what Mickey just said.

Lea blinked, pointing out, "I thought we were gonna ditch that today for tomorrow."

"Well, the sooner we get it done, the better." Minnie pointed out, pushing Melody and Ven towards the direction of the school. "Maybe we should start right now. Besides, it is important." while almost laughing before instantly stopping herself, remembering that she was under the spell.

"Well, I guess...?" Ven muttered, confused and growing worried. It wasn't like both Mickey and Minnie to suddenly suggest this.

"What's gotten into them?" Genie muttered, puzzled.

"Well, after the Earthquake, wouldn't you be suddenly shaken and not admit it too?" Mushu, finally getting himself and Sebastian off and freed, pointed out.

"In case you haven't noticed, Earthquakes are NO laughing matter." Iago pointed out, annoyed.

Despite the concerns, the group agreed to head back to the Academy.

* * *

A week later, and things had gotten quite awkward. Minnie hasn't laughed since the spell and still she and Mickey did not reveal what happened, which was making everyone at the Academy worried-even Vanitas and Iago-and on top of that, Mickey had that nightmare he had at class during the week for the second time and the worries for his girlfriend didn't help, so he didn't get any sleep.

"I'm telling you. Minnie hasn't laughed for a week, and I have no clue what's wrong with her." Daisy told the headmasters, as she and all of her friends save for Mickey and Minnie were here along with most of the teachers.

"And Mickey looks like he hasn't gotten any sleep either." Donald added.

Speaking of the two mice, Mickey and Minnie entered the large office, looking solem and slightly glum.

"Y-You wanted to see us, Headmasters?" Mickey hesitatedly asked.

"Yes, Mickey." Eraqus began, saying a bit awkwardly and worriedly, "Your friends and teachers have informed us that you and Minnie haven't been...happy lately."

Still trying not to reveal the truth, Mickey instead awkwardly said, "Well, sure. Of course we're happy. Right, Minnie?"

"O-oh yes. Very happy." Minnie muttered.

"They are not definitely not happy." Von Drake pointed out, approaching the two students. "They even haven't laughed at the late professors. Watch; name this scientist!" He held out the picture of Duckstien.

Mickey and Minnie tried not to laugh, and instead, the former forced himself to stay while trying to remembered, "Professor Sully Quon Duckstien."

"Aha!" Von Drake grinned, before pulling Timon and Pumbaa out from nowhere and snapped his fingers, "Boys?"

Shrugging, Timon begins juggling sticks and dishes, while Pumbaa gestures toward him and grins. Not getting a reaction, Timon threw away the items before he and Pumbaa linked arms and dance, grinning tensely, and both Mickey and Minnie both tried to stop themselves from laughing at the ridiculous scene. The former two then started breakdancing. Almost everyone else watched, some of them sharing bewildered glances, and Donald and Iago facepalmed themselves in annoyance.

Once Timon and Pumbaa were finished, Von Drake, annoyed as he told Eraqus, Xehanort and Ansem, "You see, headmasters? Not even a giggle."

"Hmm...perhaps you both should see Dr. Rai for a medical check up." Ansem suggested.

"Aw, there's nothin' to worry about, sir." Mickey shrugged, sombering again.

"That's right. Mickey and I are...just trying to be more serious." Minnie replied, repeating what Von Drake, who gasped and gulped in shock, had said a week earlier. With that, both Mickey and Minnie bowed their respects before leaving.

"Thanks a lot, Professor." Lea grumbled to the science teacher.

"You never should've told them to be serious, Von Drake." Serah scolded at her fellow teacher, folding her arms together in disappointment, along with her sister and almost everyone else. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Well, I..." Von Drake trailed off, unable to think of an excuse.

"No sense of humor or being serious is my job description." Squall spoke up, shaking his head. "That sort of thing is not Mickey or Minnie's style, and I should know, because laughing is their nature.'

"Indeed. It is important to be serious, but one should not lose their personality in doing so." Xehanort nodded in agreement.

"There's gotta be a way to cheer them up and get them back to normal." Melody said, thoughtfully. "I'm worried."

"Well, it's not like we can just bring in a circus or anything." Lann shrugged and pointed out, lamely.

"We can't bring a circus into the school! You know that." Reynn pointed out to her brother.

The moment the twins said this, though, Ven and the others shared glances. An idea formed into their heads.

"Hmm..." Ven thought deepily, before turning to their magical friend, "Genie?"

"Say no more, Ven. I know just the trick." Genie said, grinning.

* * *

Mickey and Minnie had retreated to the latter's bedroom, still glum over the fact that they still haven't figured out how to solve the current problem, but were still stuck.

"Oh, Mickey. How am I ever going to do anything if I can't laugh anymore?" Minnie asked, dismayed and wanting to cry.

"We'll figure something out, Min'. I promise, if we have to, we'll find that girl who made this mess in the first place, even if it's the last thing I'll ever do." Mickey promised, holding his girlfriend close.

All of the sudden, the entire room was magically transformed, and Mickey and Minnie were suddenly sitting in theatre chairs, turned towards the door that somehow turned into a circus room. A spot light was shown, and Iago, dressed as a ringmaster, stood there, while behind the door, Ven, Lea, Isa, Terra, Aqua, Melody, Donald, Goofy, Mushu, Sebastian and Daisy watched on.

"Presenting the Baffling Genieoso!" Iago presented, gesturing at a bigger spotlight, which had Genie dressed up as a circus-moden day-magican.

"Behold! The ever amazing linking rings! One ring! Two rings! One more ring and we've got a circus." Genie presented, magically manifesting golden rings, while Iago, and Donald facepalmed in dismay at this preformance. This wasn't gonna work. "Three rings, quick. Answer it before they hang up! Four rings, five rings!"

He slid the rings from one arm to another before tossing them into the air...only for the rings to capture him accidently. Mickey and Minnie giggled once, which resulted in Minnie's vase to break and she quickly covered her mouth to stop herself and Mickey cleared his throat and pretended to not pay attention by whistle.

Seeing that this didn't work, Genie, annoyed, grumbled, "Okay, forget the rings." before freeing himself and tried another trick as a box magically appeared and fake woman in a red dress appeared. "Let's see some real fake magic!"

When the fake woman closed the box lid and trapping herself inside, Genie continued while pulling out a saw, "The eternally puzzling sawing a woman in half trick." then began to saw the box. This, the duo find terrifying and hugged each other, freaking out and Minnie hiding her face in Mickey's chest, while Mickey's eyes shut in fear.

The girls outside of the room gasped before looking away, while the boys hugged each other and shivered and shut their eyes, all of them shaking. When the sawing noise stopped, everyone risked to take a peek. The box was still closed. Genie then opened the box from sideways and cringed and grimiced in horror and disgust that this trick didn't work out the way he wanted. "Ew."

Quickly closing it before anyone else could see this failure, Genie chuckled nervously before erasing the box(and the fake woman) from existance with a giant pencil and rubber, saying, "No problem. Everything under control. Let's just pretend we didn't try that one, all right?"

Mickey and Minnie both shared a still slightly disturbed look about that trick. Judging from what happened, that had been a little too real. Good thing they didn't see what happened in the inside of it. That wasn't funny.

Genie cringed again, before trying another trick, "The always nominally interesting disappearing milk trick!" as he then poured a full jug of milk into a rolled up newspaper before unrolling it to demostrate this magic...only for the milk to fall out onto the floor. Cringing, he groaned in dismay.

Minnie giggled again, which made the room rumble a bit again before she quickly stopped herself and Mickey stopped himself from laugh as well, crining that he knew that their friends were trying to cheer them up, which wasn't working as trying to keep the spell a secret was getting harder and harder now. Instead, they shared a glance and he pretended to shrug and be clueless.

"You're too kind." Genie said, sarcastically. "Thank you."

"Maybe we should go somewhere else." Mickey whispered to Minnie who nodded.

Iago, begining to panick, announced while deciding that this act was over, "Uh, and now the amazing Ventus and his twirling flower books!"

His cue, Ven stepped in, juggling books of flowers, which were only two. Mickey and Minnie, wanting to laugh, instead struggled not to and looked away, twiddling their thumbs and pretending to not be interested, much to the shock of their friends.

Screaming, Iago flew up to Ven and muttered in a sing-song tone, "Ven, we're in trouble here."

"Oh! D'at does it! I won't stand for it!" Sebastian yelled out, storming into the room, with the others following him a moment or two later, causing Ven to yelp in surprise and fumble before losing his balance and accidently dropped the books, right into both Iago and Sebastian who layed nearly flat.

Melody couldn't help it despite that this was meant to be cheering Mickey and Minnie up. She laughed at what just happened, followed by Donald, Daisy, Lea, Aqua, Terra, Mushu, and even the sheepish Ven and smirking Isa and especially Goofy.

"See, c'mon!" Genie laughed.

Briefly forgetting it and feeling better, Mickey and Minnie couldn't help it and joined in the laughter while the annoyed Iago and laughing Sebastian, despite having been briefly squashed, pulled themselves free from the books. But as they laughed, the spell hit again and the Earthquake happened.

Far stronger now. It hit the entire City, causing everyone to run around screaming for shelter as the quake appeared without warning. Mickey and the others stopped laughing and were shocked at what was going on.

"Genie!" Ven cried out.

Genie nodded and quickly poofed himself and the group out of the room before it caved in.

The Earthquake was powerful, as buildings began to crumble all around the Academy as parts of the school itself was crumbling away and if it didn't stop soon, the entire city was gone. Everyone keep screaming and running fear while those who had to find shelter could only brace themselves and hope for the best, while Genie had teleported himself and the group to the fieldgrounds of the Academy. Finally, after several tensed minutes, it finally stopped.

Hearts pounding feverously, and with the duo now remembering too late, Minnie, with Mickey behind her, hurried over to see the damage and gasped in horror. Debries laid here and there, and many people, students, teachers and everyone else in the city were jittering and wondering how it happened. Ven and the others caught up with Mickey and Minnie, shocked and worried if there were any people injured.

"Whoa, seriously! Where the hell did that come from?" Reno asked as he, Rude, Zack and Cloud looked around, shocked.

"It just...came without warning." Cloud shook his head, dismayed. "We didn't even hear anything about this coming in the news."

"Or that being anywhere else, for that matter." Zack muttered in agreement.

"At this rate, one more quake, and the entire city's gonna really collaspe." Reno muttered, worriedly.

Minnie's heart ached. This was all her fault.

Seeing this, Mickey closed his eyes and made a decision. "Oh, that's settles it." He then took hold of Minnie's hands and pulled her up, leading her to a quieter area, "C'mon, Minnie."

"Mickey? Minnie? Where are you going?" Aqua asked, she and the others hurrying to catch up to the duo who paused.

"Well...we uh..." Mickey began, awkwardly.

"We just need to be alone..." Minnie finished.

"Yeah, just the two of us." Mickey quickly added.

"Can't you be alone with us?" Donald asked.

Mickey shook his head, "No. Minnie and I gotta go away. We have something very serious to think about."

"Okay, this whole being serious thing is getting too much. What's going on?" Terra demanded.

"Just trust us, okay?" Mickey pleaded, hurryingly leading Minnie out of the Academy and made sure the others didn't follow them and was relieved that Genie didn't stop them with his magic.

"No way...they're really going...without us." Ven whispered, shocked and dismayed.

"Well, we tried." Iago shrugged, beginning to walk off, only to be held back when Mushu grabbed him by the tail-feathers.

"I think we should follow them." Lea suggested, brows furrowing suspiciously. "There's somethin' they're not telling us."

"You're right. Let's go find out." Isa nodded in agreement.

With this in mind, the group, except for the annoyed Iago, all hurried to secretly follow Mickey and Minnie who, to their surprise, were leaving Radiant City behind, as, unknown to their friends right now, were heading to find the one who was the cause of the spell Minnie was now stuck with.

* * *

Going through the forests and fields outside of the city, Mickey had asked around for any signs of the Tarutaru while descripting what she looked like and he was met with negative answers. Still, he and Minnie kept looking, and Ven and the others still followed, wondering what Mickey was trying to describe.

Finally, finding a uncharted temple ruins and nervously venturing inside the place that no one has discovered, but found multiple giant carverns large enough to fit a giant, which most were all thankfully lit up by torches and the small residence inside didn't seem fazed about outsiders, Mickey and Minnie stood before a spirit of a giant wizard with long double white beard, floating and holding a wooden staff.

" _Thy only Tarutaru thus seek is Black Mage Shantotto._ " The Spirit responded, and when Mickey and Minnie perked up hopefully, the Spirit instructed the two young students towards the pathway to their right, " _Walk to thy top level and take thy left._ "

"Thank you, sir." Mickey replied, he and Minnie giving the ghost a farewell before heading towards the very direction.

Unaware that Ven and the others had heard everything that Spirit had said and now it made sense on why Mickey and Minnie hesitated on saying anything.

"Oh, man. This is more serious than ever, guys." Mushu shivered, terrified.

"Yeah." Ven nodded.

"Just one question." Lea spoke up, "Who's Shantotto?"

"I don't know." Genie shrugged.

"Me neither." Iago shook his head.

Mushu shuddered, explaining, "I've heard of her and her kind. Shantotto, the Black Mage, who can cast terrible magic spells on you and only she can break it."

"Sounds like the Blowfish under the sea." Sebastian groaned, before he and the others hurried to continue following Mickey and Minnie.

* * *

While Mickey and Minnie nervously looked around the place after arriving, they yelped in fright when they discovered a skeletion of a giant and the former gulped nervously while the latter muttered, "Oh my goodness." before they continued on searching for Shantotto.

Along the way, Ven and the others were still behind their two friends, and when they ventured to one tunnel to find them, Iago and Mushu accidently into another and were now, to their dismay, lost.

"Oh, that's just great. Now we're stuck together and there are black mages all over the place." Mushu groaned.

"I'm more worried about the Black Mage part then the stuck together part." Iago admitted as he flew while Mushu walked.

"That's the part you should be worried about, man. Because you never knew where or when they'd cast a spell on you." Mushu pointed out as they walked through the doorway of another tunnel.

Unaware that they were being watched to two other Tarutaru; one was a male with dark skin and white mustche, blue robe and black staff. His companion, another female, had pale skin, black hair, red robe and brown staff.

"Ohohohoho! New commers. Well, well, well." The male, calling himself Teledji, chuckled evilly, gazing down at the small dragon and parrot.

"I was thinking of what would happen if you turn a dragon into a bear. Hahahaha!" The female, calling herself Adeledji, thought evilly with a smirk.

Teledji, liking the idea, waved his staff as blue mist formed before it spread around Mushu and magically turned him into a large red furry bear, walking behind Iago who was still unaware but suddenly felt the feathers on the back of his neck prickle, sensing that something wasn't right.

"What kind of magic do they use?" Iago squeaked.

"Scary ones." Mushu answered, feeling the difference and stopped short and gulped as he realised that he'd been changed, and not for the good.

Iago slowly turned around and screamed as he saw what happened to his friend. "AAAHH! You're weren't kidding, pal! You're not gonna eat me, are ya?"

The second he said this, Adeledji had her turn and magically turned Iago into an large red Ogre, much to Mushu's horrror.

"AAAH! Not if you don't eat me!" Mushu responded, only to suddenly feelt himself get more strange and grow bigger...into a troll, which made Iago scream again. "What am I now?" The former dragon asked, before shaking his head and quickly said, "Ah! No, don't tell me!"

Unaware to the two of them, the two Tarutarus laughed evilly, enjoying themselves before Teledji decided to take the next step and casted the spell on Iago again, this time turning him into...a giant with a large nose that resembled to his beak, in medieval clothes and almost reaching the ceiling of the carven.

"AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Mushu screamed hysterically, quivering like mad in horror.

"What? What're you looking at me like that?" Iago asked, dumbfounded and wondering why Mushu looked smaller this time, though he was half aware that he felt strange...again.

Mushu cringed, muttering, "Man, you really don't wanna know."

The two Tarutarus laughed even harder at the scene before them, before deciding to make things much more interesting for them and devastating for their victums. Together they casted and combined their magic onto both Mushu and Iago who closed their eyes shut and braced themselves.

"What are we now? I'm too scared to look." Iago whimpered, covering his eyes.

As the two friends did, hesitatedly, to their relief, not only they were back to their original size, but they seemed to have returned to normal.

"I think we're okay." Mushu muttered, as he and Iago sighed in relief. Deciding that they needed to find their friends, the two continued onward...only for Iago to be asking, in Mushu's voice, "So, uh, how do you feel?"

"Well, my arms are ichy..." Mushu replied, in Iago's voice. Gulping in shock and realization, he looked at his hands, eyes widening in horror as he repeated, "ARMS!?"

It became clear to both of them as they screamed in horror and dismay. They had swapped bodies!

"Iago? Mushu?" Ven's voice called out, as he and everyone else, finally having noticed the two said friends were absent, finally caught up with them from another tunnel, with the teenager asking, "What's wrong!?"

"We've been swapped!" Mushu replied, while stuck in Iago's body.

"...Mushu?" Terra asked, dumbfounded at the sudden voice swap.

"Yeah, it's him...in MY body!" Iago grunted to get to the point, while stuck in Mushu's body.

Aqua blinked, shocked, "Iago?"

"Uh...okay, so they ended up swapping bodies...how?" Lea asked, shocked and slightly terrified.

Genie shook his head, saying, "Oooh! It's the Tarutarus! There's more than just one!"

"What're we gonna do?" Goofy asked, worriedly. "How can we turn them back to normal?"

"I can turn them back to normal in a jiffy!" Genie suggested, only for Iago to leap up and shut the magical being's mouth shut.

"Oh no! There is no way you're gonna be doin' that, pal!" Iago grunted, pointing out, "The last time you did that, Al' and Jafar Jr ended up having a worse crisis! I don't wanna end up sharing a body with dragon-boy! It's bad enough that I'm stuck in his body!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down, everybody." Daisy spoke up, getting everyone's attentions. "The best thing to do in this situation is to stay cool, calm and collective and not panic."

"She's right. If so, the only way to reverse this is...ask a Tarutaru." Melody shrugged in agreement.

An awkward silence.

" _ **AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!**_ " Iago and Mushu screamed hysterically, causing their friends to wince while covering their ears at the scream, while the two Tarutarus laughed hysterically in glee at the scene before them.

* * *

Deeper in the temple, Shantotto walked on her own, still glum. Her usual stroll was rudely interrupted when she was slightly surprised but very annoyed to see the two mice lovers she met back in Radiant City a week earlier; the girl named Minnie whom she casted the spell on, and the boy named Mickey. The two students seemed annoyed and livid.

"Aha! There you are!" Mickey declared, glaring at Shantotto who shook her head.

"Hmph!" Shantotto pouted, before turning as she responded a farewell, "Go away, and good day, I say."

"Nuh-uh! I'm not leaving until you take your stupid spell off of my Minnie!" Mickey argued, stubbornly.

"And I am not leaving until you do so either!" Minnie added, angrily.

"So you can laugh and giggle again? I would rather not." Shantotto shook her head.

The two teenage mice still followed the Tarutaru while Mickey sighed, "Look. Are you gonna help us or not?"

"Why would I do it? And if not, what are you going to do about it?" Shantotto questione challengingly.

Before Mickey could answer, Minnie told the Tarutaru, getting upset, "I can't laugh, I can't have fun, I can't do anything! You ruined my life! And there's only one thing do to about it."

Mickey gulped, realising what his girlfriend, who can sometimes be scary and this was definitely one of those times, had in mind, as he muttered scaredly, "Uh, oh."

A moment of pause.

"Laugh about it." Minnie finished, and before Mickey or Shantotto stop her, she began laughing...evilly and on purpose. This once again caused the Earthquake to trigger and the entire temple began shaking.

* * *

"H-help! Help!" Adeledji cried out, terrified as the Earthquake threatened to destroy the temple.

"Grab onto some grass!" Teledji hurriedly told his companion as he had done so already, which she responded by grabbing onto the grass on the ground that grew through the concrete floor.

Ven and the others held onto each other while hoping that no falling rocks would fall on top of them.

* * *

Falling rocks began to fall from the ceiling and Mickey hurriedly grabbed both Minnie and Shantotto before the trio ran to a safer part of the temple, and sighed in relief that the Earthquake finally stopped and they sighed in relief.

After a moment of pause...

"So, wanna have her laugh again?" Mickey asked to Shantotto, glaring. "That spell just ain't funny anymore."

"Ugh, alright, alright. Okay. I shall take the spell away." Shantotto groaned in defeat, before waving her staff and the white mist formed around Minnie, returning the latter to normal while the former grumbled, "Numbered of twice, being ordered by mice."

"Well, thank you very much." Minnie sighed in relief, before asking curiously, "But, why don't you like laughter?"

"Oh, it's other two Tarutarus, bullies, you might say, I have been always been told to do their way." Shantotto sighed, becoming depressed. "My magic is weaker out of three, and they make a fool out of me."

Mickey and Minnie shared a concerned and now sympathetic glance before turning back to the grumpy and sad Tarutaru. No wonder Shantotto didn't like laughter...because she didn't like being laughed at and this what has been happening to her, because of two other Tarutaru.

"Gosh...you mean you've been picked on because of magic?" Mickey asked, gently.

"They take a pleasure out of that. At this point, I may as well become a cat." Shantotto sighed.

"Oh, Shantotto, you poor thing." Minnie sighed.

"Aw, I wish I could help." Mickey sighed, giving Shantotto a comforting pat on the back.

"Mickey! Minnie!" All of the sudden, Goofy's voice called out, startling the trio.

Mickey, Minnie and Shantotto gazed up and were shocked to see Ven, Terra, Aqua, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Sebastian, Melody, Mushu and Iago heading straight towards them, and Genie seemed absent.

"Fellas? You followed us!?" Mickey exclaimed, shocked.

"Yes! And two Tarutarus switched them around!" Sebastian panted, while gesturing at Mushu and Iago who both nodded.

"You don't even the half of it!" Iago, in Mushu's body, exclaimed. "They attacked us without warning! First, Dragon-boy turned into a bear, then I turned into an Ogre, then he turned into a troll...and I turned into a giant, and then, EACH OTHER!" by this time, he was becoming hysterical.

Mushu, in Iago's body, rolled his eyes as he pointed out, "No, I'm a stupid parrot. And he...well...he's a guardian miniture dragon."

"And Genie's now fighting against the two Tarutarus, but we're not sure how much longer he'll take against them, since their power seems stronger than his!" Melody added, worriedly.

"That's terrible!" Mickey exclaimed, and Minnie didn't disagree.

Mushu nodded, before complaining, "Worse part is...my beak itches, and these wings aren't sharp enough to scratch them!"

Iago in response used his new nails to scratch the beak, and Mushu moaned in delight, before the latter thanked, "Thanks, man."

"So...this is Shantotto, right?" Ven asked, gazing at Shantotto.

"Indeed, and you are in need?" Shantotto replied.

"I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven."

Minnie, thinking about the situation, then had an idea and asked kindly to Shantotto, "Shantotto, if you don't mind, could you please use your magic to turn Iago and Mushu back to normal?"

"While it's not against the rule, you know my magic may as well drool." Shantotto shook her head.

"Well, it never hurts to give it a try." Mickey pointed out with a shrug.

"To tell...Oh, very well." Shantotto sighed in defeat, before waving her staff and the white mist covered Iago and Mushu who both shut their eyes while everyone else stepped back slightly.

When the two opened them again, confused, Mushu asked...in his own body, "Are you...you?"

Iago, realising that he was gazing at Mushu who was back as a dragon and not himself, smiled in relief.

Realising the same thing, Mushu realised happily, "Then I'm me again!"

"YES!" Iago cheered happily, as he and Mushu held each other's hands and spun around cheering.

"I'm so happy I'm not a parrot!" Mushu laughed.

"Me too, pal!" Iago laughed.

"Glad they're back to normal." Isa smirked.

Lea chuckled while placing his hands behind his head, "You got that right! It was totally weird to see them in each other's bodies. Just wish those two other Tarutaru could swap their own bodies with each other so they'd see what it's like and they'd get a taste of their own medicine."

"A young man who wishes for the impossible? I must admit, I find that tolorable." Shantotto thought at what the redhead just said.

"Aw, cheer up. Why are ya' such a grouch?" Mickey asked, smiling.

"I get almost really mad, when they act all really glad."

"Speaking of which..." Ven muttered, having heard as he and the others turned to both Mickey and Minnie, including Iago and Mushu who stopped cheering. To their surprise, Mickey and Minnie both laughed hysterically...and no Earthquakes happened. Their expressions turned to surprise, or in Donald's case, annoyance.

"Hey, what's so funny!? Not that I'm not glad you're back to normal, Minnie." Donald demanded.

"You just made funny faces." Minnie giggled.

The group shared glances and when they realised each other's expressions, they all joined in the laughter.

"But it's great to laugh." Minnie added, as Mickey hugged her happily.

"We're all glad you're okay too." Aqua said, happily as she and the rest of the group hugged the teenage mice.

"But we gotta get back to Genie and get outta here and fast." Daisy pointed out.

"There's a problem with that, my dear." Shantotto pointed out, shrugging, and she actually sounded sad. "Only a Tarutaru to stop other Tarutaru to get you out of here."

"And if not?" Terra asked, skeptically.

"I don't make the rules, but with penalties intertwine, punishment for prisoners is eternal prison in the book mines." Shantotto sighed.

"Book-book mines?" Ven, Lea, Isa, Sebastian, Iago, Mushu, Donald and Goofy asked, hesitatedly.

"Well...you're a Tarutaru, aren't you?" Melody pointed out. "Maybe you can stop them."

"Trust me and my magic? How tragic." Shantotto groaned.

"But you're good! Okay, so what you did to Minnie wasn't nice, but it still worked. And you even turned Iago and Mushu back to normal, didn't you?" Ven pointed out.

"It was only luck, but my powers is as weak as a duck." Shantotto grumbled.

"Hey!" Donald grunted, feeling insulted only to be held back by Daisy.

"Okay, Genie's out there battling two Tarutarus who seem to like messing with everybody, and we get stuck with a Tarutaru who is such a sourpuss who whines a lot!" Iago groaned.

Isa rolled his eyes while pointing out to the bird, "Look who's talking."

Mickey, hearing this infold, suddenly realised something and turned to Shantotto and said, "I think I know what the problem is. From what I'm understandin', those two bullies like to mess with people and laugh alot. Laughtering and having fun is what makes everybody look on the bright side. Maybe that's why the other Tarutarus are really powerful. They enjoy using their magic!"

Everyone shared a surprised glance, while Shantotto, surprised as well, inquired in realization, "You mean, if I was happier, my magic will be zappier?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Genie, who had told his friends to go find Mickey and Minnie and have Shantotto to reverse the spell on Iago and Mushu, was still fighting Adeledji and Teledji who were grinning evilly as they seem to be over-powering Genie.

Finally, Genie was thrown back and crashed into the wall, crumbling into pieces, with his head still together as he glared at the two mean Tarutarus, "That's it! No more Mister Nice Genie!"

"Try to defeat us, if you like." Teledji cackled, aiming his wand at Genie. "Or you could surrender and take a hike."

Just then, the temple shook and the two Tarutarus nearly lost their balance and turned to see what was going on when the shaking stopped. Their eyes widened in horror as they and Genie gasped at the sight before them.

"What's that shake?" Teledji gasped.

"It's a Temple Snake!" Adeledji gasped, as a giant green snake slithered towards them.

"We're in for it! Run for it!" Teledji cried out, as he and his companion ran away while Genie, gulping and worried for his friends, pulled himself together and turned into a small lizard before hiding behind a rock.

To his confusion and relief, the snake payed him no mind, and instead forcused on the two Tarutarus who then stopped when they remembered their magic and turned to face the giant Snake who stood towering over them, roaring.

"Wait a moment, we're not in trouble. We have our magic to turn this snake into a tiny worm!" Adeledji pointed out.

The two Tarutarus then focused and used their magical powers to try and turn the snake into a worm. To their shock, as they attempted to try it again the second time before becoming exhausted and their magical core thinning, the snake remained the same and roared.

Realising that their magic was limited, both of them decided that there was only one thing left to do.

Adeledji then said, "Well, this is no fun. It's time to run." and run is what she and Teledji did, running away into the deepest parts of the temple.

Once they were gone, the snake began laughing hysterically until mist covered it's body, revealing, to Genie's confusion and surprise, Shantotto who was laughing hysterically. Holding her up were Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Melody, Aqua, Ven, Terra, Lea, Isa, Donald, Goofy, Iago, Mushu and Serbastian.

"Hahahahaha! I have never seen anyone run and twirl, since I was a Tarutaru little girl!" Shantotto laughed.

"Aw, I told ya it would work!" Mickey laughed.

"Ha ha! Did you see them run like that!?" Lea laughed, hysterically as he and everyone else untowered each other and stood on the ground, laughing, except for Genie who was both relieved and confused at what just happened until he realised how it happened. Especially since both Iago and Mushu were back to normal, and so was Minnie.

"Doesn't it feel good to laugh?" Minnie asked, as she and everyone else calmed down.

"I admit, absolutely." Shantotto smiled, before apologising, "Sorry I was grouchy."

"Ah, everybody can be in a bad mood and feel down, but laughter is the key of getting better." Lea smirked.

"He's right." Ven chuckled. "And if you need to get better, you know where to find us, if you like."

Shantotto smiled, "Me, becoming your friend? Now that I do not wish to end."

"I like her already." Genie muttered to the group.

So with Minnie, and of course Iago and Mushu back to normal, and the group's new friend Shantotto in a much better mood, she decided to remain in the temple for a little while longer before she would go out and explore the world, promising to visit Ven and the others at Radiant Academy soon, while the said group returned home and Genie and Shantotto restored Radiant City back to normal and fixed up.

Even so, they knew that more adventures, even if they didn't know what they would be, would be approaching them again in the near future.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: Shantotto, from Final Fantasy XI, I have to admit isn't too bad once you try and get to know her. I know that I made her a bit Oc, but I tried my best. In the meantime, see you in the next future chapter!**


	11. Episode 11: Camping Daze

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Due to struggling on which story to update next, I've decided to update this one again since deciding was driving me nuts. This episode has a mixture of a lot of contents, so, far warning; some parts may be terrifying.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 11: Camping Daze.

He knew he shouldn't be watching the TV show right now, especially at a time like this during a break. But Myde had to make promise to a certain new fellow Student who'd been on his case in calling him a whimp. It was on the edge of his seat, blanket all over him including his head, as he watched on the DVD Portable, watching the horrifying anime "Attack on Titan", and was nervously chewing on the popcorn, whimpering and cringing at the rather scary scenes.

Only onto the first episode and already Myde's fear increased by the second.

So you can imagine his reaction when the blanket, or rather the towel, was taken away from him and the sudden light from the sun nearly blinded him, but more importantly, it scared him out of his wits.

"AHHHH! Titans!" Myde shrieked, dropping his portable onto the beach chair, showering the bowl of popcorn all over the place, retaking the towel and hid himself in it, curled up in a ball, quivering.

"Geez, Myde. It's only me." Zell spoke up, startled in Myde's scare attack.

The students were at the swimming pool area to cool off, the girls wearing bathing suits, and the boys wearing swimming trunks. Myde's scream had made almost everyone else, including Ven and most of his friends, glance at Myde who slowly uncurled himself and peaked through the towel, before laughing sheepishly, but still shaken from the TV show.

"Myde, were you watching a horror movie or something?" Terra asked, scolding a little.

"Uh, n-no! No." Myde laughed, laughing nervously as he lied, "It was, uh...a comedy! Heheheheheh."

A slight awkward pause.

"Sounds more like a scary comedy to me." Selphie muttered with a quirked eye-brow. She then added, "Seriously, Myde. You were supposed to relax in the sunshine and go swimming, not sit around being lazy and watching movies."

"I was, uh, just testing out the new batteries. And you gotta admit, it's limitless." Myde shrugged, sheepishly grinning.

Lea rolled his eyes before swimming over towards the edge of the pool before effortlessly hauled himself out to approach the mullet-haired teen, saying teasingly, "Ah, c'mon, slacker. Get your lazy butt into the pool already. Besides, don't you remember we're supposed to go on a campin' trip tomorrow?"

"I..." Myde began, only to be hauled up by the redhead and screamed almost girlishly when Lea tossed him into the pool where the mullet-head landed in the water in a huge splash, spraying water all over the place slightly and making everyone a bit more wet.

"He forgot." Isa simply finished, with a shake of his head as Myde resurfaced, coughing up water that got into his mouth.

Lea in the meantime, stole a glance at the DVD Portable before cringing when he saw that the show Myde was watching was still on, and pressed the stop botton to turn it off, before gazing at Myde with a skeptical expression.

"Comedy, huh?" The redhead repeated dryly.

Everyone turned to Myde who, wanting nothing more than to avoid their glares, guiltily and sheepishly allowed himself to sink underwater for a little while not allowing himself to drown.

* * *

The next day, the camping trip was held in the Shell-Lake Forest two hours away from Radiant City and once again had two teachers. This time, though, it was a bit of a contest; boys team vs girls team. Jecht was the couch of the boys team which had Ven, Terra, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Isa, and Myde, while the girls team's couch had Serah since Claire had a nasty cold, so the younger Farron had volunteered to take her older sister's place. The girls team had Aqua, Elena, Minnie, Daisy, Melody, Cissnei, Girl-Terra and Selphie.

After everyone got off the school bus, they all gathered around to make preparations.

"Alright. You kids know how this will work; Ms Serah Farron here will lead you girls while I lead the men. The first team to gather the most esstentials for the camp such as mushrooms, water, and fire wood gets to relax while the losers make s'mores for everybody else first before they can make their own."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Mickey commented. If he and his team lose, worst case scenario is having to make dinner.

"Not like the last time when we had to pick up and collect earth worms." Terra chuckled.

"Uh, Terra? I thought it was the girls who did that last year." Goofy pointed out.

The girls who heard all groaned and shuddered at the memories of having to go through collecting dirty, slimy and disgusting worms from the ground and had to do that for hours.

"In our defense, you boys ambushed us and got our books wet!" Elena pointed out with a glare.

"What? It was Zell's idea." Lea pointed out with a shrug.

"Okay, okay. No fightin'." Jecht called up, before continuing, "Now, let's make with setting up the tents and ect. first." gesturing at his team to follow him, while Serah gestured the girls to follow her to do the same.

As everyone were setting up the tents and doing the knots, Myde struggled to hide the yawn as he hadn't had a decent night's sleep at all. He shuddered as the DVD collection of the TV show he started watching yesterday and the DVD portable with lots and lots of batteries were secretly stuffed in his back-pack, and mentally wondered if he should risk in continuing to watch it and end up with more nightmares.

"Hey...is this right?" Lea jokingly asked, making his friends look at him and saw that he tied his left arm and leg together on a rope that got him stuck, but he didn't seem to be fazed.

"I think...knot!" Ven jokingly replied, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

"Good one!" The redhead snickered.

"GAH!" Daisy suddenly cried out, and when everyone turned to look, she had accidently tripped onto a rock and lost her balance, sending her stumbling towards Donald who cried out in alarm, and in turn both of them stumbled into Myde who yelped before he ended up crashing into a bush. Everyone else winced before Mickey, Minnie and Cissnei hurried to help the fallen trio.

"Gawrsh." Goofy muttered, blinking.

* * *

Meanwhile, underwater in the river, another camping trip was happening. Sebastain was the camp coach as he was leading a trio of young crabs, two boys and a girl, towards their own campsite. They were known as the Crab Scouts.

"Highty-Ho! Where are we going?" Sebastian hollared.

"Nobody knows to where to go." The young Crabs chorused.

"Highty-Ho! Where have we been?"

"Nobody knows, 'cuz we're following him." One of the boy Crabs muttered, before he and his friends laughed behind their guide's back.

Hearing this, Sebastian grumbled, "Cut that out!" and stopped, causing the young crabs to accidently bump into him. He then told them, "We are not going anywhere, because we're already here."

To prove this, he gestured at a very nice empty area with rocks and river-plants with underwater flowers. Which made it a perfect spot for camping. "Ah yes. This is where we will camp, my little Crab scouts."

"Wow, alright!" The Crab Scouts gazed with awe. Then, without warning, the trio hurried over excitedly and while accidently knocking Sebastian over, they began setting up their campsite the way they liked it. After dusting himself off while getting up, Sebastian gulped at what was going on before quickly blowing his whistle to get their attention.

"Crab Scouts! That is not how we do it." Sebastian scolded, before continuing calmly while pulling out a book, "You must go with the Crab Scout manual. You see, before we make camp, we must do the motto, of the Crab Scout."

While puzzled at first, the Crab Scouts got the picture and lined up, saying noblely, "Crab Scout, Crab Scout. Brave camper which is what are we, with every helping claw, to everyone under the sea!"

"Gets to me everytime." Sebastian said, emotionally as he teared up.

Even so, both camps were not gonna always go as according to plan.

* * *

Later that night on the shore, after the girls team won and the boy team had just finished up their own s'mores after serving the ladies' first, everyone gathered around the campfire set up and enjoyed their dinner.

"It's a lovey night, with a perfect fire and excellent dinner." Serah said with a sigh. Everyone mentally agreed.

"Whoa!" Goofy cried out when he accidently burnt his marshmellow and after several attempts to put out the small blaze, his marshmellow had now turned into charcoal. None the less, he placed it into his s'more and ate it, grimicing at the taste of ash before swallowing with a relieved sigh.

"Real smooth." Isa commented sarcastically.

"Ah, it happens all the time." Jecht waved it off, before asking with a grin, "Any of ya's got a good ghost story?"

"I know one." Cissnei spoke up, much to everyone's surprise. She continued, "One student mentioned the other day of the legend of the Forest Giant of Shell-Lake."

The response she got was Mickey and Myde both nearly choking on their food and coughed uncomfortably in attempts to keep their meals down. Once they did, even as their eyes watered up, they both stared at Cissnei in horrified disbelief. Did they hear her right? A giant...right here in Shell-Lake Forest?

"The Forest Giant?" Girl-Terra asked, nervously as she was already brought into the story; hook, line and sinker.

"Yep." Cissnei nodded, continuing, "It all began around 300 years ago, where giants began roaming the land, starting with this very forest. They feasted on humans and all who were close to them. It wasn't until people began to gain the power to turn into giants themselves to fight them off, but they all died out-save for one. He went into hiding to live in the cave not too far from here and is said to continue to live on this day. Now, whomever ventures into the cave, will face his wrath as his mind had been twisted after years of solitude."

By now, most of the group clinged onto each other until they realised how silly they looked when the story was over. The only ones unfazed were Isa, Donald and Jecht who shook their heads.

"That's just a big hooey." Jecht waved it off. "Ya' might as well throw in Titan while you're at it."

"T-Titan?" Myde squeeked, nervously.

"Not that kind of Titan. One of the old gods most people believe in." Isa rolled his eyes. "Seriously, you and horror movies or horror tv shows don't mix."

"You think so?" Daisy whimpered.

Lea grinned, "Yeah. Sure, Hades summoned a Giant to get rid of us, but we were told of the legend of Chernabog from Arbutus. This story is just a false ghost story-which was impressively scary, by the way-by some guy back at school."

"That's true. Besides, there would've been reports of people goin' missin' if the story was true." Mickey agreed, though the aderaline of fear hasn't quite ebbed away just yet.

"I agree. There's nothing to be scared of." Ven added.

"You mean except for the ghost story?" Aqua inquired teasingly, causing most of the group to chuckle at this response, while Myde still looked rather pale as he glanced around nervously with worried eyes, just in case the said Forest-Giant appears.

Just then, a wolf howled from a far and safe distance, but was enough to make Myde, Daisy and Goofy scream before they leaped into the arms of Isa, Donald and Terra who all raised an eyebrow.

"Geez, one would think they encountered Bigfoot or something." Selphie shook her head, and Melody nodded in agreement.

"Okay, everyone. It's time to get some sleep, so let's call it a night." Serah announced as Jecht put out the campfire with a bucket of water, much to the students' disappointment, even though both Aqua and Terra agreed that it was time for bed.

Little did everyone know, not all as was seemed in the forest.

* * *

Later that night, while everyone was sleeping, in the boys' tent, Myde couldn't sleep as not only he was scared stiff by Cissnei's story, but also that he'd secretly watched more episodes of "Attack on Titan" with headphones on and now, stopping at episode 10, he was becoming more and more paranoid, especially with rustling leaves, the wind briefly making tree brances move.

It didn't help with Lea, Donald and Goofy snoring away loudly. Isa grunted due to having a restless sleep due to the noise, and Terra covered his face with an extra pillow he brought with him.

Mickey on the other hand, was tossing and turning in his sleep, softly whimping as he clutched at his sleeping bag, curling up slightly and his face becoming covered in sweat as he was trapped in a nightmare.

* * *

 _He glanced around nervously at the strange hallway, nervously looking around before pausing in front of the pitch black darkness with no torches. Mickey gulped, stepping back slightly as he somehow remembered the last time; twice, in fact._

 _"Is this...another bad dream?" He asked himself, so softly that he was afraid to raise his voice._

 _To answer his question, the same yellow mencing eyes and jagged teeth appeared in the darkness, smiling evily at him. Mickey's eyes widened in horror, as the face merged with the darkness, beginning to grow and tower over him. Scared out of his mind, he turned back and made a run for it. He didn't know where he was going, but he wanted to be far away from the black monster which, when he looked behind him briefly, he gasped as it was giving chase._

 _Urging himself to run faster, Mickey, feeling like the exit was getting further away from him, made a desperate leap into the light and landed on the ground through the exit. But when he looked up, he suddenly found himself in a cave that had a large carven which he was in right now. It had slopes leading up to a cliff which had another exit, along with a ground-level exit, a rock tower of sorts in the middle, with a glowing stone on the very top of it._

 _And leaning against it, snoring, was...a giant. A beard giant wearing medieval shoes and clothes. Mickey's heart stopped as he backed up slowy, hoping to not make a noise._

 _Only for the monster behind him to gently poke him on the back._

* * *

"AAAHH!" Mickey screamed as he jolted upright in his sleepbag, panting too quickly, which not only made Myde hysterically scream, but it also scared Donald, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Ven and Terra awake as they all jolted upright in fright.

"Yikes! It's the Forest Giant!" Goofy yelped in fright and his body frailed so wildly he tangled himself onto Donald who cried out in alarm before groaning loudly.

"Oh, Goofy!" Donald yelled.

Myde did the similiar thing by clinging onto Isa who glared at him before shoving him off him.

This also awoke the two teachers and the girls who all raced in to see what happened while Mickey was trying to slow his breathing, his heart rate beating furiously in the intensed fear, trying to calm down and repeatedly told himself in his mind that what he just saw was only another nightmare. But no, his heart told him otherwise. It wasn't just any nightmare.

Memories of when he had the warning signs in forms of nightmares of Chernabog resurfaced, and even the time when he had a vision of Arbutus just a spun of two hours before actually meeting the real...well, garden-man himself. This was the third time in a row he had the nightmare of the mysterious shadow that wanted to eat him and now a giant was added to it.

"Mickey, are you okay?" Ven asked, worriedly.

"You alright, kid?" Jecht asked.

Calming down and, seeing how so many people had gathered, Mickey felt embarrassed for having screamed like that and awakening everyone. He hadn't meant to do that. "I-I'm okay. Sorry for wakin' all of ya's." He apologuised.

"You can say that again." Lea sighed, placing a hand to his chest where his heart could be felt beating. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen you this freaked out since you had that last nightmare of Chernabog months ago."

"Did you have a nightmare?" Minnie asked, worriedly.

"Yeah...but I'm okay, really!" Mickey quickly said in response of his friends' and girlfriend's worried expressions. "I guess Cissnei's ghost story really got me unexpected."

"That explains the screaming." Aqua said gently.

Myde, trying to hide his fear, said while seemingly collecting himself, "Well, there's nothing to be scared of. Let's be cool, calm, and-" he was cut off when a shadow briefly loomed over him and a creaking sound followed, causing him to cry out in alarm, "What was that!?"

"A tree, Mister ' _Cool, Calm_ '." Terra replied.

"Oh. Right." Myde shrugged, sheepishly.

"Well, in that case, let's try and get back to sleep." Jecht suggested, "Don't wanna end up falling asleep during the day tomorrow, now do we?"

No one argued with that and once the girls retreated back to their own tents, the guys slowly drifted to sleep, including Myde who felt a bit better. Mickey, tired for having unable to tell them what his nightmares were really about, layed down in his sleeping bag once more, hoping to have more pleasent dreams when a shadowy figure was seen...a giant hand which, as he sat up quickly in alarm, the hand retreated and the shadow of the tree branch moved back and forth slowly by the wind.

Nervously, Mickey hestiatedly laid back down while whispering to himself, "D-don't worry. It-it was just a tree."

While he did overcome his fear of giants once during the Chernabog crisis, Mickey still had that fear inside him and he knew, it would take a long time before he can eventually conjour it once and for all.

But perhaps it wasn't a tree after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, underwater in the river the next day, Sebastian was studying the Crab Scout manual while the three young Crab Scouts were playing mud-ball(a spoof of snowball) while laughing at the playful war.

While the girl Crab attempted to throw a mud-ball at her friend on the ground level, she accidently slipped and threw her 'weapon' at her other friend who perched himself on top of a rock, the mud landing on top of his cap. Seeing this, he gave her his revenge by covering her in his other mud-shot. But the game ended when one of them accidently threw their mud-ball off-course and straight towards Sabastian who saw too late as his face was quickly covered in mud.

He just stood there for a moment.

"Uh, oh." The three Crab children muttered, before standing in attention, knowing that they were in trouble.

"Hey! You don't use mud at the Crab Scout camp." Sebastian scolded.

"Why not? It's really fun." The Crab scout pointed out as he slid off the rock.

"And it holds rocks together." The girl Crab Scout added.

"Muddy-Puddy is really helpful and sticky." One of the boy Crab Scouts said, sticking his hat onto his friend's, which was suddenly well and truly stuck.

"See?" The short Crab Scout said, while trying and failing to shake the other hat off of his hat.

Sebastian didn't like this idea. "Dig idea. Muddy-Puddy. Muddy-Puddy! There's nothing helpful in using...*Pfft*! Muddy-Puddy! We must go by the book. Here, I'll show you how it's done."

He then approached a rock and began reading through the manual on how to build a rock pillar, while not paying any much attention to his little Crab Scouts who were a bit dishearted but at the same time not fazed.

"Looks like he doesn't need our help." The girl Crab-Scout muttered, while behind her, her two friends successfully pulled their hats free while mumbling an agreement with her.

The trio then decided to venture off on their own, with the shorter-boy Crab Scout taking the lead. The girl-Crab Scout lagged behind when she paused and then shrugged when Sebastian was far too busy to even notice, before she hurried to catch up to her friends.

 _Half an hour later..._

"Aha!" Sebastian cheered victoriously as he was at the top of his rock tower he created. He then spoke out, "And that, my little Crab Scouts, is how it's done, by the book and without using muddy-puddy." only to gasp when he realised, to his horror, he was on his own.

"They're gone!" He exclaimed. This only triggered in the tower instantly collasping and Sebastian was briefly buried underneath it since it wasn't as solid as he originally thought. But he'd have to worry about how to re-work on it later.

Right now, he had to find his little Crab Scouts and fast!

* * *

Back on the shore, Myde was peaking through the trees around the campsite nerviously, while everyone else were packing a few things for the next part of the school assignment for Nature Class, and were almost done when Ven tapped him on the shoulder, causing Myde to scream hysterically and hug a tree in fright.

"Calm down, Myde. There are no giants around here." Ven told his friend.

"I-I wasn't looking out for giants!" Myde protested, though he failed his attempts to hide the fear in his voice. "I was just, uh...looking out for bears a-and wolves or things like that."

"Okay, seriously, Myde. Where'd you even get your hands on that ridiculous DVD collection?" Isa sighed, irritated.

"...Vanitas loan them to me." Myde lamely answered. "He dared me that I couldn't watch the entire show without freaking out."

His friends all rolled their eyes, with Lea sighing in exasperation, "Figures he'd lure you into that."

"C'mon, gang! Gotta be back before sunset, so let's hit the road, shall we?" Jecht called up to the group, gesturing them towards down the path into the woods. After Myde reluctantly released himself from the tree, he followed the others for the assignment, while Mickey nervously glanced around. What he saw last night still fazed him, and as much as he wanted desperately to believe that it had been just a nightmare, the shadowy shape told him otherwise. But he wasn't going to let his fear get to him.

"Mickey? Are you sure you're okay?" Minnie asked, as she walked beside her boyfriend and couldn't help but worry, as she noticed his scared expression.

Gulping, Mickey attempted to regain his composure and said, "Sure. I'm okay. There's nothin' scary out here. Hah, right, fellas?"

"Yeah! That story is a hoax." Donald said, nodding in agreement while oblivious to Mickey's inner worries.

"If it's a hoax, then where is there a cave that-a way?" Goofy asked, pointing to the left as the group looked at what he was pointing at. To their surprise, it was a cave with a large opening, and inside was a deep tunnel.

Suddenly both Mickey and Myde's uneasiness increased to extreme worry and terror. This cave described to what Cissnei mentioned in her ghost story last night. Everyone else shared glances in wonder and confusion.

"Was this here before, Jecht?" Serah asked.

"...I've seen it before, but to tell the truth, I've never actually ventured inside it." Jecht admitted.

"Maybe it's the same cave that giant lives in." Lea ominously spoke with a haunting and somewhat scary grin. Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, and Myde quivered scaredly.

"Aw, phooey! That's ridiculous! There are no giants in there! I'll prove it!" Donald exclaimed in sheer annoyance, and before anyone could stop him, he ran inside to prove his point, much to the shock of everyone else.

"Donald Duck! You come back here this instant!" Serah yelled, quickly giving chase after the misbehaving student.

"Serah!" Jecht cried out, giving chase as well.

"Wait up!" Ven cried out, followed immediately by Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Goofy, Elena, Cissnei, Girl-Terra, Melody and the reluctanted Myde who was quivering, all inside until Ven stumbled as he realised, to his horror, that followed by the screams of the trio that went inside, they had slid down a slope. Unfortunately, he, Terra, Aqua, Mickey, Myde, Minnie, Goofy and Daisy all tumbled and fell all the way down into the tunnel.

"Guys!" Lea cried out, horrified as he, Isa, Elena, Cissnei, Melody and Girl-Terra could only watch while avoiding in suffering the same fate as their friends.

"What do we do!?" Girl-Terra exclaimed, worried.

"In this situation, the best thing to do...is call for help." Melody advised, pulling out a cell-phone as she dialed the phone-number she knew would get here in a jiffy.

"I wish Genie had super hearing so we don't have to use a cell-phone to call." Lea muttered, worriedly.

"I hope they'll be alright." Elena said, worriedly.

No one argued.

* * *

Sebastian had been looking for what felt like hours, calling out for his Crab Scouts after whistling through the whistle. But he still had no luck in finding them at all and he was getting more and more worried by the second.

"Oh, man! I should've payed more attention, and now they're lost...and so am I..." The red crab mumbled, before calling again, "Crab Scouts! Crab Scouts! Where are you?"

He then heard a noise coming from his right, and said, thinking it was them, "Here they come." only to scream in horror when three crocodiles came swimming towards him, hungrily. "Not the three I was looking for!"

Sebastian than quickly swam for his life, before swimming downwards in a small but deep canyon in the river's floor, pursued by the hungry reptiles...only to smack face first onto a cliff rock, while the predetors swam off, missing their meal but just kept going none the less. After a few moments, he got up before looking down and immediately regretted it. It was so deep that he couldn't see the bottom.

He attemped to swim up, but winced in pain as he realised that his right claw was injured, meaning that he can't swim for a while...and at a wrong time too. He then tried to think of another salution to get out of this mess...what was it again?

Oh yes, now he remembered. Call for help. And that's what he did.

"HEEEEELLLLLPPPPPP!" He hollared, and his cry for help echoed through out the entire canyon. Sebastian winched and cringed when he couldn't even hold his rigth claw by itself and had to hold it with his other claw, before repeating his cry just half a second before a sea-weed rope dropped next to him, hanging from above him.

"Come on, Crab Scout Leader, Sebastian!" A familiar voice called, and when he looked up, to his relief, were the three Crab Scouts, save and well and they were holding a rope to help him climb back up. It was the girl-Crab Scout who called.

Without hesitation, and glad that, despite wanting to scold them, they thought of this idea without panicking, Sebastian awkwardly looped the rope around his body without further injuring his right claw. As soon as this was done, the three Crab Scouts hauled and pulled, grunted and heaved their leader up, while struggling to pull him up as his head repeatedly hit the little ledge painfully. Finally, one final and determinated pull, Sebastian was pulled up and crash landed onto the higher ground, safely, while the Crab Scouts tumbled and fell over.

Sighing in relief, Sebastian hurriedly told the children, "Don't worry, kids. The Crab Scout Manual is alright." as he held up the book to show it to them, much to their annoyance as they all groaned. He then added as he admitted, "Though, I to seem to have broken me claw." before fainting dramatically.

The Crab Scouts approached him worriedly, before deciding that they had to mend Sebastian's claw until they returned to the Ocean City to get him fully healed up.

* * *

He didn't know how it happened, but apparently the tunnel had seperate other tunnels leading downward to other parts of the cave. Because Mickey continued to slide down while screaming until he finally came into a large carven and slid to a stop in the middle while crashing into a tall rock face first.

Stuck for a few seconds, Mickey pulled himself off and landed on the ground with a small thud, but was seeing stars, dazed. He then regained his senses and leaped out of the way when Myde came parrelling down and smashed face first into the rock as well, soon joined by Ven who at least managed to stop himself from suffering the same fate as his friends and slid himself to a stop.

"Are you okay, fellas?" Mickey asked, worriedly.

"I'm fine...but we lost track of the others." Ven sighed, dishearted.

Myde on the other hand, collasped onto his back with a groan and his face sore. "That's it; I'm not fit into camping. Gimme a hotel and Rock'n'Roll stages anyday."

"He's fine." Ven and Mickey both sighed in unison. After they helped their friend to his feet, the trio looked around the large carven, which three other entrances to other tunnels, one on their ground level, and two higher up.

"Oh, man. That's just great! We're totally lost in a totally creepy cave and-and-!" Myde whined, begining to panic. This lead both Mickey and Ven to grab him by his arms and shook him to get him to snap out of it.

"Myde, calm down! This is no time to panic." Mickey told him firmly.

"We'll find the others. We just need to find a way out, so just relax, okay?" Ven added.

Myde stilled for a moment, before groaning, "Maybe I should stop watching Attack on Titan to avoid in getting too paranoid."

"Myde, you always watch horror movies and get paranoid." Ven chuckled with a slight shake of his head after he and Mickey released Myde. "Remember the time when you watched the Mummy Trilogy two years ago and how everytime the wind blew through opened windows, you'd freak out?"

Mickey chuckled while he added, "And the time when you thought Godzilla would attack everytime somethin' accidently fell?"

Thinking about it, Myde realised that his friends were right, as he sheepishly admitted, "Everytime we went to the beach, for an entire week, I thought the Kracken would come and have us for seafood."

"Not to mention that you ran off half-way through Goofy's ghost story last year's Halloween." Mickey added.

(Shown back in Episode 17 of Life FAR from Normal-Season 1)

The trio laughed before calming down as they decided that they needed to find their friends, their teachers and a way out. But as they looked around, Mickey felt his heart stop for a moment or two. This cavern...the large rock which he and Myde crashed into...

"This cave..." Mickey muttered, scaredly.

"Mickey?" Ven asked, puzzled and quickly concerned when he noticed his friend becoming pale in fear.

"...This is from my nightmare last night...!" The teenaged-mouse exclaimed softly in horror.

"Are you sure?" Ven asked, shocked.

"Uh...guys?" Myde muttered, scaredly as he tapped on Ven's shoulder.

"Not now, Myde. Mickey and I are busy." Ven told him, only to be shaken when Myde repeated what he said, more fearfully this time. When Ven and Mickey turned to see what had their friend terrified, they quickly echoed it, as a giant was sleeping, slumped against the rock. To Mickey's horror, it was the exact same giant as he saw in his nightmare.

"...I saw him in my nightmare too." Mickey whispered, hoping that the giant wouldn't hear him.

"Looks like Cissnei's ghost story's real after all." Ven muttered, eyes wide in shock, awe and terror.

"Please tell me this is all a bad dream." Myde whimpered while trying to keep his voice down.

Mickey, memories of the last time he and his friends encountered a giant returning to him, gestured towards the ground entrance to the tunnel, whispering, "Let's get outta here before he sees us."

"And eats us." Myde shuddered, only to be shushed by Ven, who then lead two of his friends towards the exit, slowly, surely and scaredly and silently. Unfortunately, a lone bat landed onto the giant's nose, which resulted in sneezing loudly and awakening, much to the horror of the teenagers who flinched.

"Uh oh!" Myde shrieked.

"RUN!" Mickey screamed out. His friends didn't argue as the trio hurriedly ran towards the exit as quickly as they could, which the Giant stood up and saw them running off, and he wasn't happy to receive unwanted visitors. On the other hand, where they were heading to caused him to try and follow.

"You don't want to go through there! There is a dragon through there!" The giant hollared, and reached out to grab them. Unfortunately, he missed as they all leaped into the doorway before quickly getting up and continued to run, despite him yelling at them, "Come back here!"

Ven, Mickey and Myde just continued to run without looking back, until they accidently bumped into Donald, Terra, and Jecht, causing all of them to crash onto the ground and on top of each other, dazed. Minnie, Aqua, Daisy, Goofy and Serah arrived shortly afterwards and winced in sympathy at the crash.

"Are you alright?" Minnie asked worriedly, as she helped her boyfriend up, the others doing the same for Ven, Myde, Donald, Terra and Jecht.

"Minnie! Thank goodness you're okay!" Mickey exclaimed in relief, pulling his girlfriend into a tight hug, having been worried sick.

"Oh! What happened?" Minnie cried out.

"There's no time. Right now, we gotta get outta here and fast!" Mickey told her, while he briefly looked back and wondered if the giant was digging his way through to catch them due to the story Cissnei told them the night earlier.

"They'll take hours! Or even days...!" Daisy whimpered, scaredly.

"I don't even know where we are." Goofy shrugged, worriedly.

"We have to stick together, so stay calm everyone." Serah told the students, even though she too was scared out of her mind, especially in a place like this. She and everyone else were suddenly shushed when Jecht glanced around with furrowed brows.

Before anyone could ask what was wrong, all of the sudden, as they heard a terrifying roar, a huge blast of fire came out of nowhere and knocked everyone all over the place. Mickey, having saw it coming, knocked Minnie over to the side to save her, but he was knocked back to where he, Ven and Myde all came from, and shortly afterwards, boulders from the ceiling came down and blocked the tunnel, once again seperating Mickey from everyone, much to their horror.

"Mickey!" Ven cried out, horrified.

He and everyone else looked up to see a huge black dragon, towering over them and looking very angry. The group stood there, shocked, and with Ven being the only one having a weapon such as the Emerald Sword, there was no way he could fight against this thing, especially without Reddy.

"Run!" Terra exclaimed, already taking Aqua by the hand and hurriedly had everyone run before him, despite that Ven and Minnie wanted to go back to help Mickey. But as the dragon was busy with them, they had no choice but to run and hide. They continuously avoided it's flame-thrower.

* * *

Mickey landed just near the exit of the cavern when he sat up and gasped in horror when the tunnel caved in, trapping everyone on the other side of the dragon's mercy.

"Minnie! Ven! Donald! Goofy! Everybody!" Mickey cried out, horrified as he raced over and began to pull the rocks away to dig his way through in desperate attempts to save them.

Only for a shadow to loom over him and Mickey froze, before turning around and leaned against the pile of rocks as far back as he could, having briefly forgotten of another problem. The giant, at least the side of Radiant Academy, towered over him before he crouched down close to the terrified Mickey Mouse who quivered in fear, terrified out of his mind.

"This isn't happening...! It's all a bad dream! It's a nightmare!" Mickey desperately told himself, hoping against hope that this was just another one of his terrible dreams. He then gasped when the giant reached out to grasp him. Mickey then shut his eyes and pleadingly told himself, "C'mon, Mickey! Wake up! Wake up!" half-expecting for one of his friends to shake him out from his dream so he'd wake up back in the tent, tramautized by the horrible dream and then calm down to get ready for the school assignment in the woods.

But he was wide awake, and he was trapped. Mickey could only whimper as he repeatedly tried to believe this was a dream, but was coming to the point where it was all too real and was grasped which cut off his scream.

"Help! HELP!" Mickey cried out while trapped inside the giant's grasp, only for the grasp to loosen and leaving him laying on the palm of the giant's hand. He shrank back when he saw how close he was to the giant's face, quivering in terror. "Please don't eat me! I don't wanna get eaten!"

"If I wanted to eat you, I would have done so already." The giant surprisingly told Mickey, much to the latter's confusion and shock. "So, you heard of me, little one?"

"Um...o-only last night, in a...um...ghost story?" Mickey gulped scaredly.

"So why did you come here?"

"It was an accident!" Mickey cried out. "One of my best friends...well, it's a real long story. But please, lemme go! All I wanna do is save my friends and teachers and go home!"

"So, you had no intention of coming here? You wish to save your loved ones." The giant realised, making Mickey even more confused. "I will tell you one thing; most of the story is true, but I was the one who made up the insane part to keep myself away from the rest of the world. It's been 300 years since I encountered anyone."

Realising that it was true, Mickey shuddered while admitting, "Well, that kinda explains why there were never any reports of anybody disappearin'." but still not certain on whether to believe this giant or not. On the other hand, he did remember the giant warning him, Ven and Myde about a dragon.

"But you wish to save your loved ones?" The giant continued.

Remembering the others, Mickey nodded quickly. "I just gotta save them! Not sure if I can win against the dragon, but their safety is more important to me!" He then realised, as he was talking to this giant, his fears of the giant was fading away. It was replaced by the desperation in saving his lover, his best friends and two of his teachers.

"Then I will help save them, little one." The giant declared.

Mickey blinked, surprised yet somehow very relieved. But could he trust him?

* * *

Back with the crabs, Sebastian's claw was wrapped and bandaged with water-grass and a stick to keep it still for the time being until it recovered, thanks to the Crab Scouts who admittedly did a good job in mending the broken claw.

"Crab Scout rule #7; Don't ever run away." Sebastian muttered, sounding slurred like he was drunk. He then somehow snapped out of his 'drunk' daze when he saw what was used as his bandage and shrieked. "What have you done?"

"The Crab Scout Manual gives out how to mend a broken Claw." The girl-Crab Sout replied, showing the page to the leader.

"Though, we didn't have everything we needed to keep it still." One of the boy-Crab Scouts added.

"So we used Muddy-Puddy." The other Boy-Crab Scout concluded while showing off mud, much to Sebastian's annoyance.

Despite this, he sighed before shrugging, "Well, I suppose it's better than nothing. Let's go back to camp, shall we?"

Even though Sebastian was on bed-rest, the four of them continued their camping trip and the Crab Scout leader decided that maybe Muddy-Puddy was helpful after all; more helpful than books, anyway.

* * *

Still hiding from the dragon, Ven and the others were worried about Mickey but at same time had to find a way out to avoid in the cave monster. But as Jecht led them silently, they were suddenly ambushed when the Dragon suddenly appeared again and chased them once again. Ven, Terra and even Jecht tried to fend it off, but were pushed back. To their, Serah, Aqua, Minnie, Daisy, Goofy and Myde's horror, they took the wrong turn and were now trapped in a dead end.

With no hope and bracing themselves, the group shield themselves as best as they could as the dragon prepared to finish them off with another blast of fire. To their shock and surprise, the dragon's mouth was clamped shut by a pair of giant hands. The giant grunted as he pulled the dragon backwards away from the group, just as Mickey, on the giant's shoulder, leaped down to safety and raced towards his relieved friends and teachers.

"Is everybody alright?" Mickey asked, worriedly, only to catch Minnie in his arms when she threw her arms around his neck.

"Oh, Mickey! You're safe!" Minnie cried out in relief, not wanting to let go.

"Did that Giant just...bring you here and save us?" Terra asked, shocked with wide eyes.

"Well...he did offer to help." Mickey replied, before glancing behind him as the Giant and the Dragon were fighting a brawl to try and over-power one another while moving away from the group, just as Genie poofed next to the group unexpectedly.

"Genie!" Ven cried out, relieved and surprised.

"Sorry that I'm late, Ven! Mel' called despite the slight lack of signal." Genie shrugged, before quickly using his magic to shield the group from one of the dragon's blasts which reflected back and hit the Dragon in response, giving the Giant a chance to push it back.

"It's far too dangerous in here! If they keep on fighting, the cave will cave in." Serah exclaimed worriedly.

"This is almost like that Eren guy turning into a Titan to fight off other Titans and saved humanity." Myde muttered, remembering the first three episodes.

"Will you forget the horror tv show thing!?" Donald exclaimed irritably.

"If only the dragon can shrink somehow!" Mickey thought, desperately while having Minnie behind him to keep her safe.

"Good thinking, Mickey!" Genie exclaimed, before making the movement of like he was rolling up his sleeves before admitting, "Let's just hope my powers don't mess up here." and then used his magic aimed right at the Dragon...but due to semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers, he accidently zapped the Giant as well, much to Mickey's worry and the group's shock.

Both the Dragon roared and the Giant cried out in alarm, while Genie winced after realizing what he did, mumbling, "Uh, whoops."

To everyone's surprise, the shapes of both giants shrank all the way down to at least good sizes; while the Dragon had shrank into a harmless little green lizard who blinked, looking around in confusion, the giant had shrunk down to human size and had changed appearence entirely. In his place was a young blonde-haired man, looking eighteen years of age, blue eyes, wearing the same but much cleaner clothes and no beard at all.

"Wha-? I'm...back to normal!" The young man muttered, shocked and somewhat relieved.

"Hey, good one, Gen'!" Jecht praised, while everyone else, while surprised, all sighed in relief that the danger was over.

"Actually, I think that was a bit of an oopsy daisy." Genie muttered.

"Nah, it's fine. Besides, you got this guy back to normal after 300 years." Terra pointed out.

"And deep down in that giant was that brave and caring young man right in front of us." Mickey added, as the young man himself approached the group, apologetically looking guilty.

"I-I'm sorry for scarying you, and everything else that happened." The young man said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Aw, it's okay." Mickey smiled as he shook hands with the young-well, old man in a young man's body-who smiled a little. "You helped save my friends and I really wanna thank ya' for it."

The blond-haired man chuckled, "I think you did. If it weren't for you, your magical friend here wouldn't have shrunk me and the dragon down to size and I wouldn't have helped to save your friends."

"He's right. Thanks to you that we're all okay." Aqua agreed with a smile.

"Thanks, Mickey!" Goofy happily said.

"My hero!" Minnie praised, before giving Mickey a long, loving kiss on the cheek and once she was done, he sighed, going all ga-ga.

Myde shook his head, before suggesting, "Um, now that the mystery's solved, can we get outta here, please?"

"You're welcome to join us, if you like." Serah offered to the young man who blinked.

He thought about it before shrugged, "Okay. Thank you." before he asked, "But um, how do we get out of here?"

"Not to worry! Semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers can solve this trick too!" Genie declared, and even by just thinking about it, he and everyone else in the cavern poofed out from the cave and reappeared right outside of the cave, startling Lea, Isa, Melody, Elena, Cissnei and Girl-Terra who all sighed in relief when they recongised their missing friends and two teachers.

"Oh, thank goodness! You're safe!" Girl-Terra sighed in relief.

"So uh, who's this guy?" Lea wondered, gazing at the young man who waved a friendly hello.

"Oh yeah! We didn't get your name." Ven remembered.

"My name is Ace. Please to meet you." Ace, the young man, introduced himself.

"Where did you come from?" Cissnei asked, puzzled.

"It's a real long story." Daisy spoke up.

"And it's thanks to Ace that we found each other." Mickey added with a shrug. "Let's just say that he's been stuck in that cave for a real long time, so we helped him to get back out again."

With everything well once again, and Ace, now mortal again and wanting to restart his life, was welcomed to join them as a new student at Radiant Academy, which he happily accepted to get used to the new world, they finished off the Camping assignment and returned to Radiant City, though one question still lingered in the group's mind.

"Hey, Cissnei? Who did mention about that story you told us?" Aqua asked as she and everyone else were on the bus ride for the Academy.

"Um...I think it was some guy named Theodore." Cissnei shrugged.

"Theodore? You mean that new guy everybody calls Golbez who has a younger brother named Cecil that arrived at school last week?" Lea blinked, remembering the two new students that he and the others met briefly.

Everyone glanced at each other, while Mickey still thought of the nightmares that led him and his friends to Ace who was finally free and back to normal after 300 years. Maybe, like Ven, Mickey himself was a special case.

Maybe that was why the Sorcerer came to him the first and second time.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere on a deserted island in the ocean, deep within a fiery cavern, a tall, thin woman, beautiful but evil, stood in front of a observing orb as she students of Radiant Academy, including Ven and a familiar familiar blue figure.

"So, Aladdin's Genie's new master is that boy; the one who defeated Chernabog." The woman sneered to herself, before her gazed turned to that of a certain teenage mouse. "As for him...he has the power of prophetic dreams. This is troubling in my plans."

She knew what she had to do. In one way or another, when she would come up with a plan, she would eventually strike.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: Things are once again slowly heating up, though the next episode/chapter will probably go back to being light as things had been getting quite serious in this series lately. Well, Ace from Final Fantasy Type-0 has now joined Radiant Academy and for those who aren't familiar with the Disney Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge game, a new villianess is on board.**

 **See you in the next episode as soon as possible!**


	12. Episode 12: The Museum Caper

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Like the last episode, this one has about two or three different contents, but thankfully this one is not scary like the last time. Anyway, let's continue onward.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 12: The Museum Caper.

The Body Museum. Sure made up for a good name for it, as it was modeled as a giant man lying on his side in a position to look as though he was posing for a model photo-shoot. It had a lift that was formed into a ball like an apple that lifts up towards his mouth which is the entrance of the museum, where the inside had different displays to learn of how a body works. It also has attractions like a joke theatre show, a dig site, body exhibits, and even various rides.

But as it was closed due to being around mid-night, a shadowing figure sneaks his way through the seemingly normal hallways of the museum despite the colourings, before finally arriving at one exhibit which was the heart exhibit, though like everything else in the Museum, it was fake because this one had a door and windows in it.

The figure rubbed his hands in glee. This was the perfect place to begin his plans.

* * *

A few days later at Radiant Academy, it was during lunch time. It was such a nice day that almost everyone decided to have lunch outside on the fields of the school grounds. Ven, Terra, Aqua, Melody, Aerith, Zack, Tifa, Cloud, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy were setting in a circle on a grass, using small blankets to sit on.

"Man, science field trips are always so boring and mind-numbing." Zack sighed, thinking about the upcoming field trip which was happening tomorrow.

"Yeah and with Professor Von Drake leading us, it'll just make things worse. Especially with his crazy inventions." Cloud nodded in agreement.

"So, what's this body museum? Is it a museum that you actually look the inside of a body or something?" Melody asked, never having been to the body Museum before.

Ven answered, "Yeah, but it's not a real body. It looks like one, but everything inside is pretty much fake. Except that I heard that the dig site has some real dinosaur bones to dig up, for a weird reason."

"The only upside to tomorrow is all the awesome rides." Zack added. That, at least, he was looking forward to.

"Yeah! You said it. Tomorrow, I'm gonna go ride the mother of all rides!" Donald declared, excitedly. Which earned him raised eye-brows from his friends and girl-friend.

"You, riding the mother of all rides?" Daisy inquired, before giggling, "Donald, you would most likely not even attempt it."

"She's right." Goofy agreed, "A ride like that is somethin' you'll ending up chickening out on."

"Besides," Terra added, "I would've thought you'd been traumatized after last week's camping trip."

"That's different. We're going to a museum, not a that dumb Attack on Titan cities." Donald pointed out.

"You've been watching it too?" Aqua, Tifa and Aerith all asked, disapprovingly.

"No, but Myde's still in his bedroom shaking like a leaf. It took Dilan and Aeleus to get him into class." Donald replied.

 _A few hours earlier..._

"You are leaving this room and you are getting to classes, and that's final!" Dilan ordered as he and Aeleus successfully pulled the traumatized Myde from his bedroom and were now dragging him by both arms, not matter how hard he tried to pull free.

"But I don't wanna die!" Myde screamed out, wailing.

Donald, having heard the commotion, rolled his eyes before facepalming himself.

"This is exasperating."

 _Back in the Present..._

"...I think Myde should stay away from that TV show." Cloud muttered. "Read up about it when Vanitas first mentioned it and I already made up my mind not to even consider on watching it. Words alone are enough to give me nightmares."

"Tell me about it." Zack nodded in agreement.

Mickey hadn't said a single word through out the entire lunch or the conversation. He had intended on saying something, but when the mention of tomorrow's field trip and the refresher of last week's misadventure and the horrors of the TV show which he never watched either and never will made him very uneasy and paranoid. Sure, last week's adventure ended a 300 year old curse and now that gained him and everyone else a new friend who had completely become somewhat glued to his studies to make up for missing out on most of his life, which was understandable.

But that only made him not looking forward to tomorrow. While he hadn't had that nightmare for a week, Mickey found that the giant-phobia he had since childhood which he had actually thought had dimmed, with both the Hades and Chernabog incident and with last week's incident, was actually growingly steadily worse and the very idea of going into a museum that resembled to a giant body wasn't appealling.

"Mickey?" Minnie asked.

He tried so hard to ignore the pangs of fear and focused on life, since Mickey didn't want to fall behind in his studies but not let it take over him at the same time either.

"Mickey?" Minnie tried again, but she was still ignored.

Maybe he should ask some advice on how to conjour very silly fears, even if the idea of giants being real sort of cut off the silly part. How can one over come that fear?

"MICKEY MOUSE!" Minnie yelled this time, scarying Mickey who screamed while leaping up three feet into the air while accidently throwing his lunch at Ven and Zack who both fumbled as they caught their friend's food. Mickey by then landed back onto the ground. Minnie's outburst had also startled their friends who also jumped in fright.

Unfortunately, her outburst also caused two others to scream in alarm before all of the sudden, Lea and Isa stumbled towards them and nearly crashed into the group who flinched out of the way while the two of them landed onto the ground.

"Oh, uh...d-did you say something, Minnie?" Mickey sheepishly asked, finally snapped back to reality.

"No, but you weren't saying anything for the past half hour." Minnie answered, immediately calm again. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine." Mickey replied, hesitatedly as he rightened himself up, before he and everyone else noticed Lea and Isa groaning as the two best friends pushed themselves back up.

"You guys okay?" Ven asked, worriedly.

"What're you guys doing?" Cloud asked, raising an eye-brow in confusion.

"Just attempting to break the old record of how long can a guy stand on another guy's shoulders." Lea answered, before pulling out a book that said, "Guinness World Record", and added with a grin, "Me and Isa are plannin' on gettin' our names in the World Record books and make history."

"Garwsh, that sounds like fun." Goofy said, before asking, "But um, aren't you fellers gonna join us for the Body Museum?"

"Nah, we made an appointment for special training with the Turks tomorrow, which we have to wait for hours. So why not do this?" Isa shrugged.

"I guess it's just us and a few others, then." Tifa said, almost teasingly.

While most of the group were excited about that despite the boring assignment, Mickey on the other hand wasn't too keen on the idea. Tomorrow was gonna be a long day.

* * *

The next day, the group who talked about the field trip at lunch were at the Body Museum with Vanitas, Squall, Zell, and Von Drake as they rode the lift up towards the entrance of the museum, which, as it was completely weird, especially since the exit was at the other side with a door at the right foot.

"Back here again. I swear, the idea of building this place was done by someone who studied too much on bodies that he'd actually wanted everyone to experience it." Vanitas shook his head, grumbling.

"You've been here before, Van'?" Ven asked, curiously.

"Of course I have. This place doesn't get any different than the last time someone gets here. If you ask me, most people come here just for the rides." The raven-haired teenager rolled his eyes, stating the obvious.

Mickey could only stare up the higher the lift approached the entrance and gulped nervously. For a split second, he saw the image of a real but much more dangerous giant opening it's mouth wider and wider, ready to engulf him, before his vision returned to reality. He couldn't help but shudder while closing his eyes, only for Minnie to gently take his hand, making him look at her.

"Oh, Mickey. It's not real. It's all fake." Minnie said softly, somehow managing to figure out what her boyfriend's problem was.

Embarrassed and not wanting to look like a baby, Mickey quickly replied, though not quite as convincing as he would've liked, "Aw, I'm not thinking about that. I had just a Quick Shiver."

Whether Minnie believed him or not, she decided to drop it as Mickey didn't want to talk about it any further. The sooner today's trip was over, the better. Finally, they all arrived at the very top which the gates were the bottom row of teeth as two workers opened them plus the door of the ride, having everyone, including other visitors to walk out of the sphere and into the fake mouth which, while it didn't feel real as it was made out of rubber matting, metal and plastic, it looked pretty realistic.

"Ew." Melody cringed, as she and everyone else took their tickets which came to the booking that Professor Von Drake made to safe them time for having to pay for their own at the ticket booth. "This is every fish's worst nightmare."

"At least it's not real." Terra pointed out.

"Okay, Class." Von Drake called up, handing out sticker markers that were also maps, "As part of the assignment, you must find every sticker of each part of the body in the Museum. You earn enough, you get the Body Museum Keychains."

Vanitas scoffed and mumbled, "This is something a 4th grader would learn, not high-school graders."

Unfortunately, Ven went up to the sticker booth and managed to grab the first there and placing it onto his marker. "Awesome! Got the first spot."

"Oh, phooey!" Donald grumbled, folding his arms while pouting. Everyone else just sighed or shrugged. Well, that wasn't the end of the world, right?

Soon enough, everyone took little boats for a small boat ride towards the other side of the river which formed to slowly flow down into the throat of the museum, paired into two each. The boats themselves were shaped like giant healing pills. Mickey by then was becoming more and more nervous as he glanced back to where they came from. He was suddenly starting to feel nauseous.

He then quickly shook his head and critictised himself for being foolish. Everything in this place was all fake, an exhibition. ' _Calm down, Mickey. It's not like you're being eaten. It's a museum._ ' He thought to himself.

Von Drake, who was relaxing in his and Goofy's boat, noticed a fountain on the wall that they and everyone else passed by, as the water fell into the river, which made the teacher grumble, "Ooh! I knew I should've gone before we came here." as that and the combination of the sound made him want to go to the little boy's room now.

That made almost all of the students laugh at that comment and even Mickey managed to chuckle before he could stop himself.

Genie, who had joined the ride while in the Lamp in Ven's pocket, briefly popped his head out, whispering, "Should I make one for him to make things easier?"

"Uh, no thanks, Genie." Ven replied, shaking his head, before Genie poofed back into the lamp.

But what everyone didn't know about was that a figure was hiding somewhere in the Museum...and it was someone Ven and his friends were familiar with.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Academy, Lea and Isa tried, and failed for the 15th time to break this record and instead ended up tumbling and falling onto the ground again. Groaning, both boys retreated to the table where the Guinness World Record book was seating outside.

"Ugh, that's the fifteenth time we tried that." Lea groaned as he and his best friend sat at the bench. "We're never gonna break this record at this rate."

Isa shook his head before gazing at the book, then quickly had an idea and shrugged, "Well, so what if we suck at doing the human pyramid? We could always find another record to break."

Thinking about it for a second, Lea grinned as he opened up a book while saying, "Great idea. Okay, lesse..." then the two of them read through which records to try out next.

"World's Highest Catapaulting..." Lea read, before sharing a look with Isa, and the two of them instantly rejected that idea. "Nah. Okay, um...World's Longest Bungy-Jumping...Nah."

The boys then found something that appealed to them as they shared a grin, with Lea saying, "Aha! World's Largest Pizza."

Surely they wouldn't mess up with that, right?

 _Half an hour later..._

Turns out it was a complete mess and a waste of time, because Lea and Isa, burrowing the kitchen, they were covered in flour, and the dough they attempted to flatten was simply too big and too sticky that was sticking to them like glue-tack.

"Let's find something else to do." Isa suggested.

"No argument there, man." Lea agreed, ready to clean up the mess and then have a shower. He then said, a bit worriedly, "Uh, let's do us both a favor and not tell anybody about this mess."

"No argument there." Isa parroted.

Now they were right back to square one, and despite wanting to break a record before the Turks got here...things were not looking very promising.

* * *

Despite the entrance of the Museum being daunting and scary, Mickey found that most of the rest of the Museum wasn't as bad as he thought. A little gross, but not that bad. He'd known for a long time that inner organs were slimy, but how they made the appearences look slimy even though he knew no one had been inside a body before...unless you want to count his, Ven, Genie and Iago's attempts to stop Hojo when all five of them were inside Donald's body.

' _Hmm, come to think it, I don't think this is anything like when we were inside Donald_.' Mickey thought to himself, blinking in surprise. ' _I can't believe I actually forgot about that._ '

They passed the Heart exhibit since it was shut down despite the workers being confused since they only fixed it last week, before entering another room that was a bit like a chamber. It also had views of other attractions. There was also a small stage with a robotic skeletion that was holding a microphone and had a medium high-pitched male voice.

When the group gathered, the Skeletion then made a joke, "Me me me. No matter how hard you hit me, no matter how much I hurt, I'm always good for a laugh. What am I?...A funny bone!"

That made Ven, Mickey, Terra, the girls, and even Cloud laugh at the joke. Donald, Squall and Vanitas on the other hand, rolled their eyes almost at the exact same time, finding that to be completely lame.

"I don't see what's so funny about that." Donald said, skeptically.

"If I didn't know any better, I swear that skeletion makes more and more lame jokes each day." Vanitas rolled his eyes, before adding, "Even though it's complete fake."

"Oh, you're breaking my heart!" The Skeletion exclaimed as 'he' turned to the trio, adding, "If I had a heart that could break, so you're breaking my ribs."

"Whatever." Squall shook his head, before a certain ride caught his and everyone else's sight. They all looked up to see a massive roller-coaster that had so many twists and turns and it resembled to a spleen.

"Whoa...!" Ven gapped in awe.

"The Spleen-Scream." Terra muttered, stunned with awe.

"The Mother of all Roller Coasters." Mickey added, awed.

From one of the carts of the Roller Coaster, Zack, Zell and Goofy were in the ride as it was reaching the top, preparing to make the super-speed drop to continue the ride.

"Hey, fellers!" Goofy called up when he and Zack noticed their friends while waving. The former then continued, nervously, "Now I know why they called it the Spleen- _Screeeeeeeaaam_!" he yelled suddenly when they all dropped and the Roller Coaster sped up again, screaming, "YAA-HOO-HOO-HOOEEE!"

Vanitas snorted a laugh, "He's not wrong."

"Let's go before we miss out!" Ven quickly said to his friends, not wanting to miss out on the ride. Everyone nodded and began to trek towards it while keeping in mind of their assignment, via Aqua, Aerith, Melody and Tifa's reminder.

But as they were beginning to leave the room, Mickey suddenly felt the back of his neck prickle uncomfortably and noticed the lights starting to flicker. Spinning around, he suddenly caught sight of a dark figure peaking from the door way of another room before it quickly fled. That figure...the sleek black ink like coat...and the white eyes...

He looked familiar. Mickey narrowed his brows in suspicion.

"What's wrong, Mickey?" Squall asked, pausing as he noticed his shorter friend pausing as well.

Shaking out of his thought, Mickey caught up to his friends before answering, suspiciously and now worriedly, "Not sure. I thought I saw someone familiar. Can't explain why, though. Maybe it was my imagination."

However, little did they know, it wasn't Mickey's imagination, as the figure risked another peek just in time to see the students of Radiant Academy walk around the corner.

' _Ugh...it's that Mouse and his friends again. Looks like I need to step up to my game._ ' The figure thought...revealing to be none other than the Phantom Blot.

* * *

Back at the Academy, Lea and Isa tried so many Records to try and break. As of thus far, they haven't been able to succeed in anything.

First, after the Pizza failure, they tried tossing one hundred frisbees at the exact same time, but they were instead repeatedly hit when the toys returned to them, causing them to run around the field in a panic.

Next, they tried balancing as many tea-cups and plates as they could...well Lea tried to do it, all on Isa's head while the blue-haired teen struggled not to move while Lea was on a ladder, trying to place another one as carefully as he could while nearing the ceiling.

"You do realise that this is gonna be a nightmare to take back down without breaking them, right?" Isa grunted, while trying to stay still.

Lea winched, before suggesting, "Do me a favor and don't talk 'til we're done here, 'kay?"

"Hey, guys. Tseng's gonna be here in..." Reno spoke up as he, Rude, Iago and Mushu arrived in the lounge, only to pause when all four of them saw what Lea and Isa were doing. "What the hell are you doing?"

"That's not gonna work." Mushu shook his head.

"They'll gonna break. You know that right?" Iago rolled his eyes.

Unfortunately, the battle to keep balance was lost as the support couldn't handle it anymore and...

 _ **CRASH! SHATTER! CLING!**_

"AH!" Lea wobbled before falling off the ladder and right on top of Isa who crashed onto the ground as well just one second after all of the tea cups and plates fell and shattered into broken pieces on the floor. Their friends and Lea's cousin all cringed in sympathy and horror at what just happened.

"See?" Iago said a moment later to prove his point.

Next, Lea attempted to do opera singing for an hour as the current record for that was 56.4 minutes. Isa was watching the stop-watch while having the headphones on to block out his friend's 'singing' which, considering how he's good as a future Turk...the redhead wasn't good at singing that much...

Not even seven minutes tops, and Lea, exhausted, collasped onto the floor, moaning.

Next, the duo were in the hallway of the quarter rooms, with Lea now holding the stop-watch, as he called up to Isa from the other end of the hallway, "Okay, so the record is 50 minutes to run back and forth in the hallway without collasping."

At Lea's single, the two friends then ran back and forth of the halls, repeating this process as long and fast as possible. Unfortunately, about 35 minutes as their legs began to burn and ache, by then, both teenagers collasped halfway and had since passed out from exhaustion.

Fortunately, the two were saved from humilation as Reno and Rude found them, before the two of them sighed.

"They're a real handfuls." Reno grumbled as he scooped up his cousin in his arms while Rude did the same with Isa, before both of them carried the unconscious younger-ish teens to their dorms to rest and recover.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Museum, after the students had their turn at the Spleen-Scream, they soon found themselves in the Lung exhibit room, and they even retrieved key-chains that were shaped like inner body parts, except that heart was shaped like a love-heart.

"Wow! We're sure catching up fast." Mickey remarked as he saw how many stickers he and his friends had gained.

"I know. Didn't think we would." Daisy said, smiling.

"Hey, you know. I was thinkin'. That little feller other there ain't a bad kid-ney." Goofy joked, laughing, "Ay-yhuck! Get it? Kid-ney?"

This only made his friends give him looks that translated, ' _Seriously?_ ' while Zack muttered uneasily, "Okay...?"

"Alright, everybody." Von Drake called up, having the students gather around him, "We're getting pretty close and I'm proud of all of you making such fine progress. For the next ride, is the Stomach Spin."

"STOMACH SPIN!?" Mickey exclaimed, horrified all of the sudden before he could stop himself.

* * *

Ten minutes later, he found himself about to be strapped to said ride, which was kind of like a cylinder collender, with straps and handles inside the ride. The area around it, with a platform leading to the ride itself of the room, did resemble to what a stomach would look like. Mickey gripped the handles tightly as his own real stomach was gurgling uncomfortably, his heart rate quicking and he was becoming pretty convinced that his breathing was quicking as well.

His friends were with him and were not as fazed as he was.

"Well, the Stomach Spin is the second best ride." Tifa shrugged to Cloud next to her.

Cloud on the other hand, looked a bit green in the face. His own stomach was twisting uncomfortably, and he knew why. He was going to get sick in this ride; he just knew it.

Finally, despite the huge embarrassment, Cloud sighed before speaking up, "Think I'll have to ride out on this one." and requested the workers to leave him before he went for the platform.

"What's with him?" Vanitas asked, quirking an eye-brow as he watched Cloud leave.

"Uh...well..." Zack began, awkwardly.

"He has a bit of trouble with motion-sickness." Squall stated simply.

Mickey watched Cloud go and began considering on riding out the ride himself. In fact, the more he stared up at the ceiling with a false black hole that resembled to the entrance of the stomach, the more he began freaking out as he couldn't help but imagine this area being a real stomach.

"Mickey? Are you okay?" Minnie asked, noticing that her boyfriend next to her was starting to shake.

Unable to handle it any longer, Mickey spoke up, a bit shakingly, "Uh...I-I'm gonna ride out on this one too." before unstrapping himself and making a hasty retreat to the platform.

"Mickey?" Ven asked, worriedly. Before he knew what he was doing, he apologised to the two workers working on his strap before hurrying to follow his friend. He was followed by Goofy who looked very green in the face and decided to back out on this one.

Mickey collasped onto his hands and knees, panting too quickly as he tried to calm down, mentally scolding himself for letting his imagination and fear mix up together and get the better of him. Cloud, who groaned at his own weakness, was surprised to have seen his friend having made a hasty retreat and actually looked worse than Cloud himself did.

"You alright?" Cloud asked as he knelt on one knee next to Mickey, concerned. Ven and Goofy reached the both of them and bend low to check on Mickey, while the Stomach Spin Ride's door closed and began without the four of them.

"What happened?" Ven asked, worriedly.

Sighing while knowing that he was caught, Mickey whimpered while feeling stupid, admitting, "Aw, fellas. I'm really sorry about that. I tried. I really did. I guess I'll never get over my fear of being eaten by a giant. Coming here to the Museum only made things a lot worse, and I was actually doin' okay up until we came here for the Stomach Spin ride."

"Gawrsh, Mickey. Why didn't ya say so?" Goofy asked, puzzled and worried.

"It's too embarrassing." Mickey answered, sighing again. "I thought I could get over this after what happened last week, but it just won't go away."

"You didn't have to force yourself to try and overcome it." Cloud pointed out. "I mean, no one's really expecting you to be like Sephiroth."

"Yeah. You know we got your back, Mickey." Ven pointed out, before he asked, "Hey, you remember how Isa had a sudden fear of flying and how Lea helped him to overcome that to save us from the Carpies?"

Mickey blinked, before thinking about it. He did remember; it was the time when the Carpies kidnapped Selphie for their King so that he could have her as his song-bird, and how before hand Isa had a nightmare of crashing and had developed Acrophobia. It wasn't until Lea told him how to conjour it that Isa forgot that fear in order to concentrate.

"Hmm...maybe I've been doin' it the wrong way and try on focusin' on what's really important." Mickey muttered, standing up as did his friends. He rubbed the back of his head, muttering, "I'm sorry, fellas."

"That's okay, Mick'." Ven smiled.

Mickey smiled back in appreciation, until the lights went out and the room went black. He, Ven, Goofy and Cloud gasped in confusion and shock, as did everyone else as the entire power in the room was gone, and the Stomach Spin Ride stopped, but the doors didn't open.

"What's going on?" Ven cried out. He then squited his eyes when he and his three friends were nearly blinded by a sudden light coming from the entrance. The four of them turned to see that it was coming from a flash-light, and it's own was...

"The Phantom Blot!" Mickey cried out, realising that the crook who somehow managed to escape the Turks' clutches.

"I thought the Turks arrested him!" Goofy cried out, alarmed.

"Oh, but they did. But I managed to escape." The Phantom Blot sneered evilly, laughing before snapping at the four students, "Now get lost!" and then zoomed away to make his hasty retreat.

"So he's the one who caused the water outage a while back." Cloud grunted, eyes narrowing.

"We gotta stop him, and fast." Ven grunted.

"But how?" Goofy shrugged, worriedly. "It's too dark and I think the power's about to get cut out through the entire building."

"And the others are trapped inside the ride." Cloud added.

Mickey gazed at the ride and his stomach larched to the idea of his girlfriend, other friends and teacher, along with other visitors trapped in there like they were eaten, before shutting his eyes and shook his head firmly. No, this wasn't the real stomach. This was just a museum. None of insides were real. His friends were in danger; everyone in the building was in danger and he, Ven, Cloud and Goofy had to do something to save them and stop the Phantom Blot.

The question was, where was that crook?

Suddenly remembering one exhibit being down due to lack of power...

"I know where the Phantom Blot! The Heart Exhibit! He's the one who's cuttin' the power all over the museum." Mickey spoke up, his fear fading and his determination returning.

"That explains everything." Cloud realised.

"Okay, we'll go and stop the Blot." Ven declared, before taking out the Lamp and rubbing it, instantly summoning Genie who appeared.

"You called?" Genie asked, before looking around and then magically summoned a lantern to lighten up the room, "Why is it so dark in here?"

"Genie, the Blot's behind of all this. We're goin' to stop him. Do you think ya' can free everybody in that ride while we're gone?" Mickey requested.

Getting the message while shocked that the Phantom Blot was back, Genie instantly turned himself into a construction worker and saluted, "I'll get them out in a jiffy!" before storming towards the door. He then began punching it while turning into a boxer, but found that he was unable to open it.

"Boom! Another blow to the head! Boom!" Genie grunted.

"C'mon, fellas!" Mickey gestured to his friends, taking the lead towards the Heart exhibit. Ven, Cloud and Goofy, relieved that Mickey regained his confidence, hurried to follow their friend.

* * *

It didn't take the four of them long to reach it, and despite the raised eyebrows, once they knew that there no other people around, Mickey, Ven, Goofy and Cloud snuck into the exhibit which somehow turned into a labratory, the false giant heart's door shut tightly. Mickey, Ven and Cloud then tried to lift the door from the bottom, but no matter what they did, they couldn't even lift it. Panting, they then jumped slightly as they saw Goofy on a cat-walk above them, pointing at something at the top of the false heart.

Shrugging, the trio silently hurried up and reached Goofy who pointed at a hole of a tube that lead straight into the heart. Nodding, all four of them silently slid down, while inside, the Phantom Blot, unaware of his enemies having found out where he was, was working on some sort of machine while developing some kind of green goop, with a computer that was programed to not only transform the entire Museum into his own base, but also cover Radiant City in the green slop.

"Soon the Body Museum will be mine, while Radiant City is covered in slime." The Phantom Blot declared to himself, laughing evilly.

"I don't think so!" Ven's voice grunted, startling the Blot who spun around, and was shocked to see Ven, Mickey, Goofy and Cloud who all glared at him angrily.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Cloud demanded.

"You two again!" The Blot grunted while glaring at Mickey and Ven, before adding, "And with two new friends! Despite the numbers, brats, you will not stop me from turning this Museum into my base!"

He then grabbed hold of a hose and when he pulled back the handle, he fired green slime at the group who all quickly leaped out of the way to dodge it, even though Ven and Cloud were both covered in slime and were knocked into the wall of the insides of the false heart. Mickey grabbed hold of a rope that hanged from the ceiling and began swinging around the small room, dodging the slime shots while managing to catch the Phantom Blot by surprise by kicking him on the back, knocking him over.

But the Blot recovered and as both Ven and Cloud managed to grab hold of the Blot to get the hose, he elbowed the two teens in the stomach, before blasting them in slime, much to Mickey's shock. This was the distraction the Blot needed as he then blasted Mickey with the slime shot, knocking him onto the floor.

"Oh no! We're losers!" Goofy cried out, hysterically before running around in circles, panicking, "Whad'I do? Whad'I do!?" before he accidently tripped onto a piece of metal and fell forwards, screaming before he accidently bumped and knocked over a lever downward.

In doing so, the process the Phantom Blot made to cover Radiant City in slime and turn the Museum into his base began to reverse, while he didn't know it as he approached Mickey was was trapped and cornered.

"I think I'll go right ahead and cover you in slime first." The Phantom Blot snickered, only to realise too late that slime from the tube above the ceiling began to ooze out and right on top of him, while the door of the false heart opened briefly and it began to operate again. "What!? What's happening!?"

Realising what happened and now using this a chance, Mickey declared boldly while saying sarcastically, "Looks like you're about to have a Heart Attack!" before knocking away the hose and quickly made his escape with Ven and Cloud recovering before they grabbed hold of Goofy and made their escape, leaping through the door way before it would close on them, and leaving the dismayed Phantom Blot trapped.

"No! Nooo! My base! My beautiful base!" The Phantom Blot wailed, while the room was beginning to flood in slime.

Before long, the room was almost flooded in slime, as the Phantom Blot, in anger and defeat, grunted in hatred at the teenagers who outwitted him again, "I've been... _slimed!_ "

The heart exhibit then stopped and along with it, due to the connections of the Phantom Blot's plot, the power in that area and the Stomach Spin ride area came back on, just as Genie finally opened the door, only to be sucked in and the door closed behind him, resuming the ride, and as he wasn't strapped in, he was spun around and around repeatedly while hitting the walls painfully.

Finally, the ride stopped and the doors opened, with a very dazed Genie wobbling out, muttering, "Well...at least Ven and the others managed to save the day again." before collasping onto the platform, briefly out-cold.

Back with Mickey and the others, they all panted while groaning slightly in being covered in slime, thought it wasn't as bad as it looked.

"Well, I gotta say, Goofy. You lost something that helped save the day." Mickey phrased happily at his best friend, with both Ven and Cloud nodding in agreement.

"I did?" Goofy asked, confused.

"Yeah. You lost your balance." Mickey replied.

"Well, hooray for me! I'm a loser!" Goofy cheered.

"Oh, Goofy." Ven chuckled while Cloud just smirked while shaking his head.

Now was the matter of reuniting with their friends, get cleaned up and continue the rest of the field trip.

* * *

Back at the Academy, Lea and Isa were trying one more Record by stretching a piece of rubber as long as they could, with Reno, Rude, Iago and Mushu being there to keep track.

Once the two of them stopped, Isa asked, "How long is it?"

"...30 inches long." Rude answered.

"Ugh! That's the same as the current record!" Lea groaned in frustration. In the frustration and losing grip, Isa accidently let go which caused the rubber to sling towards the redhead who was hit in the chest, being knocked back a few feet onto the ground while Isa fell as well, before getting up and hurried over to his best friend.

"Lea! You okay?" Reno called up, hurrying over to help his cusion, while Rude followed.

"Ooh...that oughta hurt." Mushu mumbled in sympathy.

"Who came up with that idea anyway?" Iago asked, before he and the dragon went over to the teenagers, as Lea and Isa slumped to the ground in humiliating defeat.

"Just great. What're we gonna say to Tseng if he found out about this?" Lea complained. If the Wutaiin Turk found out how big of a loser he and Isa were, the Turk would never let them live it down.

"Besides the fact that he'll say how big of sore losers we are?" Isa grumbled, sarcastically.

Lea sat up, sighing in frustration, "I know we're sore losers! I mean, seriously, that was our 35th attempt and we still haven't managed to break a record!"

"Wait a minute, did you say that was your 35th failed attempt?" Mushu asked, while he scanned through the book.

"Yeah." Lea and Isa grumbled.

To their surprise, Mushu said in realization, "That's what I thought. According to this, there's been no Record of any failed Attempts since nobody else even bothered trying."

"None what so ever?" Reno asked, he and Rude both surprised as well.

"There was no Record Attempt of failing? What kind of a record is that!?" Iago cried out, annoyed.

"So that means..." Isa began in realization.

Lea, grinning like an idiot, laughed, "We just set a new Record!" hugging his best friend with one arm, and Isa couldn't help but chuckle in agreement.

"I'm so proud of you guys." Reno praised with a grin, "You're Radiant Academy heroes! And I bet Tseng would accept you guys in being Turks since you're better suited in that, but having created this Record is an extra bonus."

"Sweet!" Lea cheered.

"Speaking of that guy, wasn't here supposed to be here by now?" Iago spoke up, noticing that the Turk was late.

"I was meant to come here half an hour ago, but an arrest of an escaped criminal had me delay this visit." Tseng's voice spoke behind the six of them, startling them violently while Iago screamed and clinged onto an annoyed Iago. The Wutaiin Turk smirked, "I apologise for being late."

"Yeah, well, next time make yourself known without givin' anybody a heart attack, Boss." Reno suggested in slight annoyance.

"We'll see." Tseng replied, hiding a smirk before inquiring, "I hear that Lea and Isa had just created a new Record in the Guinness Book."

Lea grinned while standing up with Isa, the redhead saying, "Sure did, boss. It's a long story, and ya' might find it weird."

"I doubt your misadventure will be any more stranger than the misadventures at the museum, which is a very strange place in and on itself." Tseng replied.

Lea, Isa, Reno, Rude, Mushu and Iago all shared confused expressions. Did something happen at the Body Museum which some of their friends went to?

All of them and Tseng then shared their stories.

* * *

After calling in Tseng and another Turk to re-arrest the Phantom Blot and make sure he didn't escape this time, Ven and the others rejoined their freed friends who were relieved and congratulated in stopping the villian again and saving both the Body Museum, which the Heart exhibit was being cleaned up, but also Radiant City.

"Now it's time for one more ride on the Spleen-Scream." Von Drake called up to the students who cheered, except for Mickey who smiled as he sat next to Minnie in one of the cards of the Roller Coaster.

"Is everything okay, Mickey?" Minnie asked.

"I'm okay, Minnie." Mickey replied with a smile, "I just learned a valuble lesson that Isa learned a long time ago. And next time, I'll be sure to remember it."

He was much more calmer now, especially he learned that his friends and girlfriend mattered to him the most and Mickey would have to stop letting his fears get the better of him.

Which was fine by him.

"I'm so glad." Minnie sighed in relief, as the ride began.

But as the group enjoyed one last ride on the Spleen-Scream, one question lingered in the minds of the students of Radiant Academy and Genie.

How did the Phantom Blot escape?

* * *

On the deserted island, the Sorceress had watched everything transfere and growled when she saw the four teenagers defeat decoy of her plans. She clutched her fists in irritation.

"Oh! Those brats captured the Phantom Blot!" She grunted angrily. "Now I have to come up with something else!"

And she will. The next time she would strike, she was going to make sure those students of Radiant Academy were not going to get in her way.

Even if it meant trying this plan again in another matter. How and when, not even she knew quite yet.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: The Phantom Blot will have a connection with this woman's plot in the later episodes after the two-parter episode which is coming up next. Sorry that this chapter was confusing, but I did my best with the All Grown Up episode "The Old & the Restless" as well as the Lizzie Mcguire episode "Come Fly with Me" and the House of Mouse short, "Mickey and the Colour Caper".**

 **Hopefully I'll see you again real soon!**


	13. Episode 13: How to be a Cowboy-Part 1

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: At last, the first part of the two-parter episode is right here! And it's based on the Rugrats All Grown Up episode "Dude, Where's my Horse?". It's been three years since "Life FAR from Normal" two parter episode "Nightmare in Camp Everwood". So, let's get to it!**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 13: How to be a Cowboy-Part 1.

Summer: The single greatest word in any language. No school, no homework, no butt cramps from the most uncomfortable invention, the chair desk, no agonizing gym classes or First Aid classes. Nine long months of anticipation all building up to three precious months of sun, fun, future training, and non-stop adventures.

...Well, if those had anything better to do, of course.

Instead, we find our heroes-Ven, Terra, Aqua, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Melody, Iago, Mushu, Myde, Cloud, Zack, Tifa, Aerith, Cissnei, Elena, Arlene, Lann, Reynn, Vanitas, Reno, and Rude all in the Theatre-TV area in the dark, completely bored. Every other student went to either a camping trip, to their families at home, visiting relatives, or whatever else they were doing. Even Genie left for a week to visit his girlfriend, so having him for entertainment wasn't on their list this week.

" _Don't try this at home, mates!_ " Said some guy on TV who was riding an Ostrich, riding off to a cliff only to be parachuted down.

It wasn't until Myde glanced at his watch that he made a bit of a change of reaction.

"Quick! Pass the remote! We're missing Attack on Titan Junior High!" Myde quickly cried out.

"...What's Attack on Titan Junior High?" Aqua asked while Terra passed on the remote to Reno who passed it to Donald who passed it to Ven who passed it to Vanitas who finally passed it to Myde.

"It's a children-parody version of what I watch, and suits him better, the big baby." Vanitas answered as the remote was passed on and Myde switched to the, surprisingly, very first episode of the parody TV show and like a zombie, Myde's eyes were glued to the screen. While most of the group who'd seem glimpses of it recongised everything in this parody version, Vanitas was right. It was a children's version...and admittedly less scary.

Myde then yelped as he then went up closer to the screen, tearing up as something horrible happened at the end of the episode...

"Poor Eren...and his poor Cheese-Burg-Steak! His entire favorite lunch eaten by the Colossus Titan! And all I can do is stand by helplessly and...*Sniff sniff* watch." Myde sobbed pathetically.

"Well, put it this way. At least the Titans in this show are only stealing everbody's school lunch." Mickey pointed out with a shrug, while flinching at the scary parts of how huge (and ugly) the Titans were.

"I know, but Cheese Burgers are Eren's life! The suffering of having something stolen like that is a cruel and unfair punishment." Myde replied.

"So you're saying that these guys can't cook and make their own lunch so they steal human food instead?" Lea deadpanned. While he wasn't a fan of the horror TV show Vanitas liked, the redhead mentally agreed that this parody version was just plain stupid.

"Man, talk about lazy." Jecht's voice interrupted, even though everyone in the room knew he, the headmasters, Serah, surprisingly Scrooge and an unfamiliar elderly man dressed up like a Cowboy entered and saw the students lazing around. "It's like a goat exploded in here."

"Why aren't you all doing something more active?" Serah asked.

"We did everything we could've think of; training's finished for today, went swimming, been outside in the park, the girls went shopping, us guys even took time in climbing exersises. Got nothin' else to do." Reno explained, only for him, his cousin and their friends to yell out when Serah went to the window and pulled the curtains open to let the sunlight in and they all flinched at the brightness. "A little warning next time, please, Ms. Farron?"

"Lads, and Lassies, meet my old friend, Red." Scrooge introduced the man next to him with a smile.

Red, the Cowboy, approached the group as he sighed, "Look at these critters, citified just like their Uncle. Wouldn't last long working at my ranch which is at 8:00 in the morning and we get up at three." before gazing at Zack, Cloud and Tifa, admitting, "'Cept them, since they all look non-born city-critters."

"Well, yeah, me and Cloud are Country boys and Tiff's a Country girl." Zack shrugged with a smirk. "My parents raise Chocobos."

"And we both hiked mountains back at Nibelhiem." Cloud added with Tifa nodding in agreement.

"High hopes for you three." Red praised.

Scrooge rolled his eyes, and scoffed while glaring at Red, "Ach, Ranch, Smanch. Ye clouded yer brain, yer old coot. Remember when we were lads, yer bet I wouldn't last a week on a Ranch. Made to September in a punch."

"You were on bed rest." Red smirked.

"I broke my leg!" Scrooge defended himself.

"Gettin' off the bus." Red responded.

Ven smirked, as he stood up and said as an idea came into mind, "Bet I could last a summer, especially since I'm training to be SOLDIER."

"You'd last a long time as SOLDIER, but you wouldn't last a week at the Ranch. Lemme see your hands." Red scoffed, and when he examined the teenager's hands, he confirmed, "Yep, soft as a seamstress."

"You know, that's not a bad idea." Serah thought, an inspiration coming into mind. "A week on a ranch to learn other cultures that are not city life."

"A ranch?" Arlene scoffed. "No thank you. That stuff's for people who want to do that silly and dirty stuff."

"Aw, c'mon!" Lea complained, "Most of us have no idea how to do ranch work and some of us are trainin' to work for ShinRa, not farming." and no one argued with him there.

"Gee, I've only visited my grandparents at their ranch when I was really little and that was a long time ago." Mickey pointed out, shuddering at a certain memory, "I couldn't even clean up leaves when the wind kept blowing them back all over the place."

"Messing with chickens, horses, cows and no spa treatment? Forget it! That's not a thing for a parrot to do!" Iago said while glaring at the teachers, headmasters, Scrooge and the old Cowboy.

Mushu nodded in agreement, "Lived on a farm once and that was more than enough. Besides, horses and chickens hate me!"

"It's a real bad timing." Myde told the superiors. "Eren's in war with the Titans and I can't afford in to be in Humidacodo."

A slight pause.

"Then it's settled. A week on a Ranch it is. Consider it as a training for a future school assignment." Eraqus finalized and when he gets that 'and that is final' tone, no one was to argue with him.

"Yeah, they're outta here." Jecht smirked, as did Ansem and Xehanort.

The students in the room, horrified that they had no choice in this matter, all glared angrily at Ven, knowing that it was his fault that they were stuck on a 'Summer-School-Assignment' which just ruined their summer break. Ven just looked at them nervously in return.

Well, too late to turn back now.

* * *

The next day, the students and the two guests(namely Iago and Mushu) had packed up before they boarded the bus with Scrooge and Red that would take them to the countryside to which Arlene took this time to tease at Elena constantly about her cousin being unable to bring Tseng along, much to the younger blonde's embarrassment and irritation.

"Well, so much for taking time off." Reno complained. "Summer Break's finally here and we get sent to more work!"

"Ah, c'mon. It's not as bad as it sounds." Zack tried to lighten the mood. "We'll be fine."

"Says a Country boy who's spend most of his time in a city these days." Isa scoffed.

"Just because people like us haven't been home for a while doesn't mean we've forgotten about life where we were born." Cloud pointed out, while gesturing at himself, Zack and Tifa.

"Besides, it's like Ms. Farron said. It'll be good for all of us for a change of scenery." Tifa added.

"There's change of scenery, and then there's a week prison of working in a dump!" Iago complained in irritation.

"Don't ever get tired of complaining about anything, Iago?" Elena sighed in annoyance.

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be too bad. It'll be like camping, only without marshmellows and tents." Minnie tried to lighten the mood.

The only ones though that were really looking forward to this were Ven, Zack, Cloud and Tifa, and even Aerith didn't seem to mind any of this. Still, the rest of the group were trying to think of some light in all of this. But they were mainly thinking about wishing the entire week to be over and done with so that things could go back to normal.

Soon enough, they arrived at the bus stop in the middle of nowhere and disembarked with their suitcases.

"Well, sure ain't familiar." Scrooge remarked.

After a moment of silence, there was a sudden sound of an omnious whistling which scared Goofy out of his wits, making him jump for cover into a horse water trough.

"Dude! What the honk?" Lann blinked, dumbfounded.

"Goofy, why'd'cha do that for?" Mickey asked, incrediously.

"Whenever yer' hear that song in the Westerns, bad guys are about to come out to start a shoot out." Goofy replied nervously.

The whistling was heard again, but rather than bad guys, instead it came from a cowboy who was about in his mid-forties. He then laughed as did a woman close to his age, a young cowboy in his mid-teens, and a man who was driving a truck as he pulled up to reveal the rest of the ride.

"Nah, nutthin' to it. That's what we do to all city-slickers. Right, Scrooge?" The man in his mid-forties said.

"Aye, it weren't funny then, and it ain't funny now." Scrooge replied, glaring at the younger man, while MIckey, Ven and Terra helped Goofy out of the water.

The man then introduced himself and his companions, "I'm Big Red. This is Medium Red and Little Red, and that guy by the truck is Tiny." to which the larger but younger man, yet older than Little Red, waved friendily.

"What truck?" Reynn asked, skeptically.

"The one that he's standing in front." Iago responded, annoyed.

* * *

Soon the students and Scrooge were in the back of the truck as they and the others rode towards the Ranch. Soon enough, Arlene caught Little Red staring at her and she asked, glaring, "What are you looking at?"

"Uh, er...I never met a city girl before." Little Red said, nervously, before asking, "H-How'd you get your hair so shiny?"

"We bathe." Arlene scoffed.

"Hot dog! Check this out, fellas!" Mickey cried out in awe from the right of the truck as they drove by. Almost everyone looked and they watched in sastifaction as while Horses were running on the dirt, racing the truck.

"Look, quick before you miss it!" Cissnei called this time, gazing at the left. When everyone did, to their disappointment and confusion, she was gazing at a single old Cow eating grass just outside of the Ranch which they were nearing.

"Seriously, Ciss'." Lea rolled his eyes in annoyance and incrediously. "You pulled us away from wild Mustangs to check out some old Cow?"

"Yeah! Horses are more fun than cows are!" Donald nodded in agreement.

"It's not about the Cow. It's about the Cow Tipping." Cissnei pointed out.

"Cow Tipping?" Daisy scoffed. "I've never heard of anything so ridiculous."

"Besides, you'd never do that, Cissnei." Zack agreed, "That's just...bad."

"Yeah, and I know bad, because I used to be bad. With a Capital B." Iago nodded in agreement.

Cissnei glared at her friends, saying, "Are you saying that I can't be bad? I so too can be bad! I can be as bad as all of you put together! Maybe as bad as the Turks and SOLDIER! Badder even." before she turned back and glared at where the Cow was, calling, "That's right, sister! You're going down!"

"This is where I start to get worried." Aerith muttered.

"I feel sorry for that poor cow." Melody nodded in agreement.

They all finally arrived at the Ranch and as most of the group had feared, it was worse than they thought. A single house that acted like as an Western Bar, a Barnyard, Chicken Pent, Horse Stables and everything ranches had. The guests were then shown to the Barnyard where they would be sleeping and inside, it already had cots made up for them.

"I feel right at home." Zack sighed with a beaming grin.

"Sweet." Lea grinned, "Not as bad as I thought."

"Barn sweet barn." Lann beamed.

Ven smiled, "Ah...living like real Cowboys."

Arlene on the other hand, not impressed at all, said snootingly, "This is fine for people who like the outdoors, but fabulous people like me need my own bathroom, hot tub, internet access, free movies and a luxary bed."

"Arlene, not everything's about you." Elena pointed out to her cousin.

Big Red then noticed what time it was and then told the guests, "Well, it's 4:PM. You'd all better get some shut eye. 'Round here, we get up before the Roosters."

"Night, buckaroos." Scrooge smiled.

"Night, Uncle Scrooge." Donald waved back.

As the adults left the barnyard, Arlene called out to them, "Which one of you can I talk do about room service?" but was ignored.

"Is there any channel service to watch Attack on Titan Junior High?" Myde called out.

"Oh, shut up, Myde." Vanitas grumbled, as he and Isa both whacked him on the back of the head with a paper-fan they pulled out of nowhere.

* * *

As everyone changed into their Pjs(the girls having their own privicy) and went to bed in their cots, Ven smiled, muttering to Terra, Mickey and Goofy, "Just think, guys. Tonight, we go to sleep-students, tomorrow, wake up-cowboys."

His friends, despite the worry, smiled at the thought as they and the rest of the group went to sleep, knowing that they had to get up early tomorrow.

* * *

Whatever some excited thoughts some of them had was all wasted away as the very next morning, their first job of the week was, to their disgust, was cleaning out the Horse Stables, scooping up Horse Dung into Wheel-Burrows.

"Ah, gross!" Reno groaned loudly, as he accidently stepped into one. "That's gonna take me ages to get this off of my shoe!"

"P-U! They smell worse than Pluto needing a bath." Minnie groaned, covering her nose with her hand.

"You're telling me." Daisy nodded in agreement, trying to keep her distance from the scoop of poop as far as possible, as the terrible oder was making her eyes water.

Donald, having to wear gum-boots since he didn't want to accidently step into any Horse Dung, wobbled before he lost his balance and fell onto the ground, thankfully not into the poop, but right next to it which, as soon as he breathed, he gagged and turned bright green in the face before pushing himself up.

"This is exasperating." He groaned.

"Ugh! All of this is gonna ruin my jeans!" Reynn complained.

"Don't you ever think about anything else other than complaining?" Lann rolled his eyes.

"Welp, nobody said that livin' as a Cowboy would be easy." Mickey pointed out, having pilled up his Wheelburrow to start round 2. "Gosh, Red and his family do this for a living."

"If we want to be Cowboys, we have to work up to earn that title!" Ven pointed out.

"Easy for you to say, idiot." Vanitas groaned.

Zack and Cloud, who were used to this but at the same time agreed that the smell and the poop themselves were terrible, shared a glance before muttering in unison softly so that none of their friends or Aerith could hear them, "City-People."

"Did you say something?" Rude asked, his eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses which he tried very hard not to get poop on, having heard Zack and Cloud mumble.

"Uh, no-no, not a thing!" Zack quickly lied, nervously, smiling sheepishly.

"You were hearing things." Cloud added.

"Rude, do me a favor and lemme burrow your other pair of shoes." Reno spoke up, requestingly.

"Not in your life." His best friend deadpanned.

"Hey, where'd Arlene get to?" Isa asked, noticing they were missing someone.

"She had a bit of trouble so I volunteered to help with her shovel." Little Red spoke up as he was now holding two shovels.

This only made everyone else groan as Elena thought to herself in irritation, ' _That's her way of getting out of this_.'

* * *

True to Elena's thoughts, Arlene had wandered off and found herself in another barn filled with Hay and a chicken resting there. Exhausted, she layed down in the pile of Hay with a sigh, "It's definitely one-star, but it'll do."

Before she knew, as she had intended for her nap, she'd fallen asleep.

* * *

The rest of the day was becoming more and more exhausting. Almost immediately after cleaning up the Horse Stables, the group had to help with the Piggies in the mud, working on fences, collect some eggs from the Chickent Pents, to which Iago, Mushu and Donald were being chased by ten Chickens who weren't too happy with them.

By afternoon, Cissnei wandered off to where the Cow from yesterday was and silently crept up behind it with every intention of tipping it. Unfortunately for her, the cow layed down before she could even raise her arms to touch it.

At the similiar time, the group were pulling up a new Barn by rope with Iago and Mushu coordinating and all cheered when they finished. Big Red went up to examine it, only for one of the Barn walls land around him through the window, and the rest of it followed. The students of Radiant Academy walked away, disappointed. It was almost dark as Arlene was still sleeping, and a single egg that Chicken was next to rolled away...and began to crack, indicating the mircale hatching of a newborn.

* * *

Everyone had returned to the Barn, resting after a long day at work.

"Dude, what a week!" Lann sighed as he layed on his front on his cot.

"Lann, it's been a day." Reynn pointed out while she and Reno both cleaned out their shoes, before she grunted in disgust at her twin brother, "And you stink!"

"In honor to the great Cowboy traditions, I refuse to take a bath." Lann grinned.

"Ugh, that's not Countryboy tradition." Cloud groaned in disgust. "Even Countryside people like to clean up."

"Yeah, no kidding. My mom always had a fit everytime I played in the mud when I was three." Zack nodded in agreement, watching as Goofy placed yet another bandaid on his arm which the latter had like at least ten each on both arms.

Lea groaned, laying flat on his cot, "If there was a river nearby, I'd go jump right into it right now."

"So, you guys aren't the types to rinse out your socks. Picky, picky, picky." Mushu shook his head, before smiling as he admitted, "Myself, I kinda like that corn-chip smell."

"EW!" The girls, and most of the guys all groaned in disgust.

"Okay, that's just beyond gross." Terra groaned.

"Howdy ho, partners." Tiny spoke up as he peeked through the window of the barn. "You put in a long day, huh?"

"I've never worked so hard in my life." Melody sighed as she laid down.

"Well, I need a volunteer for KP duty. You won't be doing all the outdoorsy stuff you did today."

As soon as Melody heard it, she quickly sat up and held up her hand, saying, "Me! Me me me me me me! Pick me!"

"Oh, we got a taker." Tiny smiled with a wink.

The half-human-half-mermaid grinned, "Yes! Goodbye horse poop!"

"Ugh! Trust her to get out of that." Lea complained.

Tiny made to leave, but turned back as he added to Melody, "Oh, you gotta get up two hours earlier than yer buddies so we can get breakfest on." much to her dismay as she groaned in irritation before collasping back onto her cot.

"...On second thought, I'd rather not cook." Lea quickly said after hearing that, thankful for not having volunteered.

During the conversation, Myde had been working on something on a piece of paper and when he was finally finished, he stood up, announcing, "Listen up, everyone. Since Ranch people don't believe in TVs, I've filled in the void by writting up a mock episode of Attack on Titan Junior High."

He went up to Ven to give him the script as well, saying, "Ven, you're playing Eren. You've been complaining and talking about ideas on getting more Cheese Burgers."

"Oh, brother." Isa rolled his eyes.

"Arragggh!" A scream filled the air and when everyone looked, Arlene came running into the Barnyard.

"It's chasing me! It's hideous!" Arlene shrieked, hiding behind Vanitas. When the group looked to see what in the world she was screaming about, to their surprise, a baby chick that was dark-gray feathered and orange beaked with matching leg-colour came wandering in, chirping.

"Aww! How cute!" Elena cooed with a big smile. Aerith, Aqua, Minnie, Daisy, Cissnie and Melody agreed.

"GET IT OFF ME!" Arlene screamed hysterically.

"What is it?" Minnie asked, confused.

"It's an ugly Chocobo! How should I know!?" Arlene complained, "I accidently hatched it and now it won't stop following me!" she then hid behind her cot and used it as a shield, growling at the baby chick, "Stay away from me! I have orange sauce and I am NOT afraid to use it!"

"Aw, look." Daisy cooed at Arlene, "The baby thinks you're it's mother."

"And that is why I refused to take on that Egg back at Easter." Iago pointed out, actually feeling a bit sorry for Arlene.

Arlene glared at the baby who was chirping at it's 'mother', "Well, I'm not. It's ugly, dirty and smells like Lann!" ignoring the glare Lann casted at her. "SOMEONE GET IT OUT OF HERE!"

"Can't." Lea groaned, "Lost all feeling in my arms."

"Aw, you're lucky." Goofy said to the redhead. "I'd like to lose feeling in my arms."

"I'm not sure if this is the right thing for us to do." Aqua admitted, "Sure, learning is good for us, but I think this is the limit we can't have."

"Tell me about it." Reno grumbled, "Even Turks don't spend an entire week with this crap."

Myde shook his head, saying in dismay, "All you guys think about is yourselves! What about Eren and his Cheese Burgers?"

"Who cares? I'm sick of Eren and his Cheese Burgers." Isa scoffed. "He probably accidently got eaten and digested by a Titan by now, anyway." which made Mickey gulp nervously, despite the Museum incident and the Forest Giant incident before that.

"How could you say something like that!?" Myde cried out.

"Reality check, Myde. Giants don't tend to have very good eye-sight on anything! They relay on smell and taste!" Iago pointed out while glaring at the Mullet-haired teen.

"Stop it!" Aqua called out scoldingly. "Why is everyone yelling at each other? We shouldn't be fighting on each other."

"You're right, Aqua." Elena nodded in agreement, before glaring at Ven's direction, stating angrily, "We should be fighting on Ventus!"

"Huh?" Ven blinked, gazing at the mock script until he realised that almost everyone was glaring at him.

"It's HIS fault we're here in the first place!" Elena continued, before she and most of the group began to rant and yell at Ven, and most of the words mixed in were like gibberish, and despite Mickey, Zack, Cloud, Tifa, and Mushu coming into defense, and Goofy being torn-both literally and figuretively-it was a bunch against six who backed up.

It wasn't until Big Red came in and interrupted that the ranting and yelling ceased, "Hey, hey! What's with the big ruckus?"

"Uh, it's not much of a ruckus. It's more of a loud court-case." Lea deadpanned.

"Well, you partners better get to bed, cause ya all got a big day ahead. I'm invitin' ya'all for the big drive!" Big Red told the group, who paused. Did they hear right? He was inviting them for a drive. The big drive?

"Just for the record, man. You're not talkin' about like a trip to grandma's house. Ya' mean that real thing, right?" Reno inquired.

"Yep!" Big Red replied while tipping his hat up, "Ya'd better get some sleep, 'cause you're gonna learn how to rope an' ride!" before leaving.

So they did hear right! They were all going for what they actually expected!

"Dude, we're going on a Cattle Drive! We're gonna be Cowboys! REAL cowboys!" Lann said in excitement.

"Yeah...totally!" Myde beamed.

All the ranting and yelling of complaints and blaming on Ven was all forgotten instantly. Instead, it was replaced by cheers and thanking Ven for this idea, smiling at him and the others who defended the teen. Well, Iago didn't look too thrilled.

"Cattle drive...what's next, going to the Safari?" Iago complained.

* * *

The next morning, everyone, except for Iago and Mushu, were up bright and early, looking forward to the new lessons and each of them were given horses that suited their personality. Except Goofy who felt left out.

"Hey, where's my Horse?" Goofy asked, only for Little Red to give him his own Horse, who was wearing the same hat he was and even had buck-teeth. The two of them smiled at each other.

"Hot Dog! This is gonna be one of the greatst moments of my life!" Mickey said happily, patting his horse who nudged him friendly on the cheek in return, the two of them becoming best pals already.

Soon enough, Little Red was showing them how to put on a saddle and hook it up on a horse. To his surprise, Arlene did it with ease like a pro.

"What can I say? It's just like accessorizing." Arlene said, smuggly and her horse shared her grin.

Reno groaned as his saddle fell off before he picked it up and tried again, successfully putting it on his horse. Ven didn't have much luck either but he too managed to hook it. Next, Little Red demostrated how to get on a horse by three easy steps; Left foot stirrup and put one leg over. Goofy managed to do it easily, while making comments that he didn't break anything...yet.

Reno nervously and very slowly did the same and sighed in relief that he managed to do it and his horse didn't run off on him. "For the record, gettin' on a horse is much easier than gettin' on a Chocobo. Those over-grown chickens always run away from me everytime I even tried to get on them."

Ven tried to do the same, but had trouble heaving himself up and somehow ended up getting on his horse backwards, making everyone else laugh at his situation before riding around the yard on their horses. Unfortunately for Arlene, the baby Chick was still following her.

"Get lost, will you? I told you, I'm not the motherly type!" The blond-haired woman grumbled, riding away, but the baby chick was still following her.

While everyone else's horses were going fast, Ven's horse was going very slow, nervously trying to stay upright and since his saddle wasn't hooked right, he ended up sliding and cried out when he ended up clinging upside down on his horse who kept walking with him like this.

* * *

Later that night, Melody had gone into the kitchen to make dinner and presented her new meal to Tiny, "Another Melody Special." holding up a bowl of food, "Radiant Bean Salad!"

Tiny hesitatedly picked one of the pieces and bit into it, cringing before saying, "In all my years on the ranch, I ain't tasted nuthin' like it!"

But as soon as the proud Melody walked off with the bowl of her cooking skills from Ocean culture, once she was out of sight and hopefully out of eavedrop, Tiny gagged with his tongue sticking out in disgust, and when he turned to see no one saw this, he sighed in relief while wiping his forehead, "Whew!"

* * *

When Melody gave everyone dinner and sat with them in the saloon, Lea took a bite of the Egg Roll while sitting at the table with a deck of cards and said, "Hey, Mel'. This is better than your Beef Jerky Fillet."

Melody smiled proudly...for a moment.

"Don't get me wrong, it's still really nasty." The redhead added, causing Melody to eat with an irritated look, while the baby chick was not standing next to the irritated Arlene.

"How many times do I have to get through your tiny skull? I don't like you, Reject!" Arlene grumbled.

"Arlene!" Elena scolded. "You can't name him Reject. It's really mean."

"It was my first choice, little cousin." Arlene grinned smuggly, before glaring at 'Reject' while adding, "My first was dinner."

The baby Chick lowered his head with a sad frown, looking like a neglected child. Arlene gazed it, before something inside her that she had no idea of formed and she smiled and decided to share her dinner with the baby. She placed the plate onto the floor where Reject then happily ate which made her smile even more.

"Ay-yhuck! I can't believe how much fun I had idea. It was like I could think, like a horse." Goofy said.

"And that's a good thing?" Cloud asked, skeptically.

Aqua giggled, "I have to admit. It was great when you get into the zone."

"Yeah, the zone!" Daisy agreed, "It was like you and the horse were one."

"Ven? Is somethin' wrong?" Mickey asked, noticing Ven's sombered look.

Snapped out of the daze, Ven reluctantedly replied, "O-Oh, yeah, the zone. Yeah, great." before getting up and walked away, looking sad and disappointed. Mickey, worried for his friend, shared a worried shrug with Minnie before excusing himself and followed Ven out.

While that was going on, Lea and Isa were playing cards, looking quite serious like in the Western Movies.

"Got any Aces?" Isa inquired.

"Go Fish." Lea replied, using the table as a foot rest.

"Now, you wouldn't be lying to me? Because I gave you one two minutes ago." Isa narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Ya' callin' me a liar? 'Cuz them are fightin' words." Lea glared, and at that comment, everything froze as everyone turned to glance at them and the piano that played by itself stopped all together.

Isa scoffed, "Hmph. Then I am callin' you a liar." as he stood up with a somewhat evil grin.

The reaction was almost priceless. Tiny hid behind the counter while grabbing the glass jug of lemonade, Arlene covered Reject's eyes while Minnie, Daisy, Elena, Aerith and Goofy(who gulped nervously) covered their eyes, unable to watch. Lea and Isa both stood up and knocked down the table, glaring at each other like they were about to start a gun fight at high noon.

"Draw!" Lea declared, and he and Isa both pulled out egg-rolls from their pockets like guns.

"Break it up, you two!" Iago cut in and ruining the moment, saying in annoyance, "Melody's Egg Rolls are liable to explode. And I'd never get that stain out of my feathers." much to Melody's irritation as the parrot had insulted her cooking.

Seeing the point, the two teenagers fixed up everything and went back to playing their game, innocently this time.

"Thanks for the jacket, Reno." Cissnei thanked the older-ish redhead as she put on a black jacket that resembled to that of the Turks. She then grinned, "Now, time to tip me a piece of Cow! YAAAAAAH!" She yelled as she ran out.

"No doubt 'bout, she's gone bad." Terra remarked about Cissnei.

"You said it." Donald agreed.

* * *

It didn't take long for Cissnei to find her 'enemy' and as silently as she could, she approached the Cow, only for the animal to lay down before she even touched it, again.

"That's it. I'm not joking around anymore." Cissnei glared at the cow. "Before I leave, YOU are getting tipped! Game on!"

In irritation, she stormed back to the Ranch, passing Myde who, after dinner, had snuck around and found a cord leading to a large metal small barn. When he caught sight of her, he waved up, "Hey, Ciss'! Ya' mind helping me with something?"

"Doing what?" Cissnei asked as she stopped.

"As a nice girl that turned really bad, could you be my look out while I'm doing some investigating?"

"Sure, why not?" The teenaged girl grinned.

Sastified, Myde opened the door, and grinned as he saw a satellite dish. "I knew it! I satellite dish! And where there's a satellite dish...there's TV." before yelling out in victory, "HANG IN THERE EREN! I'M COMING TO HELP YOU GET YOUR CHEESE BURGERS BACK!" which was echoed around the darkness of night all over the Barn.

Outside of the saloon, both Ven and Mickey, who were having a chat about the former's lack of skills of being Cowboy, flinched when they heard Myde having shout out about Eren and Cheese Burgers.

"For a guy who lazies around, I'm surprised he can do better than I can." Ven muttered, disheartened, leaning against the wooden railing.

"Oh, cheer up, Ven." Mickey said optimistically. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Ya just have to keep tryin'. Ya' can't be a Cowboy in just one day."

"Yeah, you're right." Ven smiled weakly, but somehow he doubted that practice would help him this time. He had a lot of skills to do anything easily. But he was beginning to find out that being a Cowboy wasn't one of them.

Red was right. He wasn't cut out for this.

* * *

The next day, Little Red was teaching everyone how to lasso some cattle, and while most of the students got the hang of just spinning around their lassos and kept going, Ven only succeeded in roping himself around the neck. It wasn't until a familiar baby chick came into view that everything stopped.

"NOBODY MOVE!" Arlene shouted, getting off her horse and going over to Reject. "How many times have I told you to stay away from the ring?"

Reject chattered while molting some feathers, causing Arlene to scold, "Don't you give me that attitude, young man. Shoo!"

"She's dressing it like her how?" Aqua inquired, noticing the red scarf around the baby's neck.

"She should be reported for cruelty on animals." Mushu pointed out while standing on the head of Goofy's horse.

Ven in the meantime, gazed at the wooden cattle with determination, refusing to back down. He then tried to lasso the cow again, but instead, caught something, or rather, someone else.

"Do _I_ look like a wooden cow to you?" Donald deadpanned while having his arms pinned to his body as he was tied up in a rope.

Ven flinched before sighing. He tried again a little while later, only to do it to Donald for the second time. The third time around, Little Red put the wooden cow somewhere else with no distractions or obstacles...but Ven ended up tossing the lasso into the outhouse...where Donald was.

"Getting rope burns here." Donald called out while freeing himself and tossing the rope away, again.

* * *

Through out the rest of the week, Ven tried to put a wooden steak into the ground, but it sank in, while Goofy made an elephant shape with the wires, Cissnei tried and failed to tip the cow as it laid down again, much to her dismay, Myde tried to find the TV but all he found was a radio, and Ven tried to lasso the wooden cow, only to capture Donald for the fourth time, and everyone built up another new barn.

Now they were all back at the saloon where Melody once again made dinner and to everyone's surprise and delight, for once they were enjoying it.

"Might be my taste buds, but Melody, this grub tastes awesome!" Lann praised.

"I know." Melody smiled, "It took me a week but I finally made it up right."

"Sorry for being left down." Ven said as he sat with Mickey, Minnie, Zack and Aerith.

"Aw, it's okay, Ven. You were just in a bad mood." Mickey replied.

"You seem to be in better mood now, though." Zack noticed, before asking, "You managed to lasso the wooden cow?"

The spiky-blond-haired teen shook his head, saying, "Nope. I finally admitted that I'm the lousiest Cowboy in the world, and I'm comfortable with it."

"Oh, Ven. It's alright. No one can be good at everything." Minnie said comfortly.

"She's right. You can only do what you're really good at. Everyone has different skills." Aerith added.

"Yeah, Ven. It's like how I can't cook except for makin' Cheese-Ham-Ham-Tomato-Cheese Sandwiches and Cheese." Mickey added.

When Cissnei came in, everyone looked up and the music stopped as she looked rather...moody. But as she approached the table, the music started up again and everyone resumed eating. She took a seat where Little Red was.

"Any luck with Cow Tipping?" Little Red asked, and the answer he got was Cissnei sighing in frustration, which pretty much told him that the answer was no. So, as much as he knew it was hurt her, he decided to tell her the truth, "Listen, Cissnei. I don't wanna spoil your fun, but there ain't such thing as a Cow Tipping. It's just a urban legend."

Cissnei paused in eating, as shock filled up inside her and her expression.

"So...it's a hoax?" The curly-haired girl asked, major disappointment hit her as she realised that she had tried to do something that didn't even exist and that was a completely waste of her time for the entire week. She then sighed, and muttered sadly, "Just like us City people don't have Aligators in our sewers."

Little Red nearly choked on his drink utter shock and dismay as he asked, "Ya' don't have Aligators in yer sewers!?"

The two of them then sighed in major disappointment and slumped in their chairs.

"Like how Nibelhiem doesn't have Chocobos since it's too cold for them." Cloud muttered, shaking his head.

"Rumors can be frustrating things, especially since you're not sure if they're true or not." Tifa sighed, and her boyfriend nodded in agreement.

* * *

Later that evening, Ven, Lann, Reynn, Melody and Goofy were raising another Barn with success.

"Dude, I can't believe we're going on a Cattle Drive tomorrow. I'm stoked!" Lann said excitedly.

"I hope we're ready for it. I'd hate to mess it up." Melody said, while letting go of her rope.

"Me too." Reynn said, doing the same as she added worriedly, "I'm down to my last clean pair of jeans."

Ven smiled sadly, saying, "You guys and everyone else are gonna be great."

That caught his friends by surprise, as Goofy asked, shocked, "Whaddy'a mean?"

"I've decided to bail out on the drive. B-But good luck and have a great time." Ven replied, letting go of his rope and left the barn, walking off in sadness, while the barn fell down as four of his friends shared shocked and disbelieved glances.

They couldn't believe it. Ven was bailing out on the adventure tomorrow?

One thing was for sure, it was clear that Ven was so dishearted that he felt that he would just ruin the whole thing and despite being majorly disappointed in not joining his best friends, he had decided...

It was for the best.

TO BE CONTINUED!

* * *

 **A/N: Poor Ven. Such a cliff-hanger. But don't you worry, there will be intensed excitement in the next episode as the Drive begins! Will Ven join in? What will our heroes encounter on their new adventure? Find out next time! Hopefully I'll see you again as soon as possible.**


	14. Episode 14: How to be a Cowboy-Part 2

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Here's part two!**

* * *

 **I don't own anything here.**

EP 14: How to be a Cowboy-Part 2.

 _Previously, on Life NEVER was Normal..._

 _"Dude, I can't believe we're going on a Cattle Drive tomorrow. I'm stoked!" Lann said excitedly._

 _"I hope we're ready for it. I'd hate to mess it up." Melody said, while letting go of her rope._

 _"Me too." Reynn said, doing the same as she added worriedly, "I'm down to my last clean pair of jeans."_

 _Ven smiled sadly, saying, "You guys and everyone else are gonna be great."_

 _That caught his friends by surprise, as Goofy asked, shocked, "Whaddy'a mean?"_

 _"I've decided to bail out on the drive. B-But good luck and have a great time." Ven replied, letting go of his rope and left the barn, walking off in sadness, while the barn fell down as four of his friends shared shocked and disbelieved glances._

 _They couldn't believe it. Ven was bailing out on the adventure tomorrow?_

 _One thing was for sure, it was clear that Ven was so dishearted that he felt that he would just ruin the whole thing and despite being majorly disappointed in not joining his best friends, he had decided..._

 _It was for the best._

* * *

It was about fifteen minutes later that Ven found himself hanging out with Scrooge and Mickey who, like the others earlier, was shocked that Ven decided to skip the Drive, all three of them playing Horseshoes while Red was sitting on a rocking chair.

"I'm not in the mood for Horseshoes, Mr. McDuck." Ven told Scrooge.

"Well, fake it." Scrooge encouraged as he handed a Horseshoe to Mickey and Ven, one each, before the elderly duck asked to the teenaged boy, "Now, what's this I hear that ya' sittin' out on the drive? I'm really confused. Weren't ye the one who talked us into this trip?"

Ven tossed the Horseshoe, but only managed to hit the pole and it fell into the ground without spinning before he sighed, "Yeah, but that was before?"

"Before ya' found out that you can't lasso?" Mickey gently guessed, while Scrooge tossed another Horseshoe...a bit too far.

"Yeah." The blonde-haired teen shrugged. "So, what's the point?"

" **OW!** " Red shouted when Scrooge's Horseshoe ended up hitting the former on the head, before the old man shouted, "WATCH WHERE YA'RE THROWIN'!" while rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"Aw, gee. Ven, without you, I don't think any of us are gonna be enjoyin' the Drive tomorrow." Mickey shrugged, saddened, after he successfully tossed the Horseshoe properly.

Scrooge nodded in agreement, advising to Ven who managed to succeed this time, "Aye, laddie. If ya go through life only to do things yer good at, yer'e missin' out on half of it."

"Really? You sure a bit lousy with Horseshoes, what're you gonna get out of it?" Ven smirked.

"First, it's a lotta fun. Secondly, if I dinna take up Horseshoe, I wouldn'a met an explorer that inspired me in explorin' and goin' on adventures." Scrooge explained.

"Did that explorer play too?" Mickey asked.

"Er, not really." Scrooge admitted, sheepishly, "He walked by and I hit 'im in the nose." which made Ven and Mickey both winch in sympathy for that Explorer that Scrooge met years ago which had inspired him to be who he was today. "And third of all, Ven, lad, Mickey here believes in ye' and I do too."

"He's right, Ven." Mickey encouraged, "C'mon. Whaddy'a say, partner? You wanna join us on the Drive?"

Ven folded his arms and thought about what his friend and Scrooge had said long and hard. They were right. Why only focus on the good skills if one couldn't accept the bad skills they had in life?

After a thought, he made his decision.

* * *

The next morning, and the big day came for everyone. All of them were wearing Western outfits and were riding on their horses, especially, to his friends' delight and happiness, Ventus who had decided to come along after all and the excitement of driving Cattle was hard to resist after reconsidering his decision. Arlene had the baby chick be comfortable in a pouch of her Horse. Iago rode with Goofy while Mushu rode with Melody.

"I wonder what big beasts were gonna be drivin'?" Zack asked, excitedly.

"Longhorns?" Cloud guessed.

"Holsteins?" Ven asked.

"Steers?" Terra guessed.

Everyone waited anxiously and exciteldy as Red and Big Red opened the doors of the Barnyard. To their shock and huge major disappointment, rather than Cattle as they were expecting, a flock of Ostriches came out.

"Ostriches!?" Donald exclaimed, disappointed.

"Wha? Ya' mean we're drivin' Ostriches!?" Lea complained, disappointed.

"Ugh, what a rip off!" Reno complained, turning accusingly at Big Red, "I thought you said this was a _Cattle_ Drive!"

Big Red shrugged as he got on his horse, "Well, I only said drive, ya' all filled the blank."

"I knew there was a catch." Vanitas grumbled, annoyed.

The Ostriches were so noisy and squaking away. To Arlene's surprise, the baby chick squaked as well and when she looked back and forth between the baby and the Ostriches, a shocking truth dawned into her when she saw the powerful resemblence.

"You're an Ostrich? I had an Ostrich sleeping in my bed!?" Arlene exclaimed.

One Ostrich pecked at Elena who grunted, "Hey!" before it took her hat which she snatched back, asking, "Are they supposed to do that?"

"Ew!" Reynn groaned while covering her nose, "They smell worse than Lann!"

Speaking of her twin brother, he was being pecked at by another Ostrich while groaning, "H-Hey! She's the one doing the insulting, not me!"

To most of the group's surprise, Aqua was petting one on the head with a smile as she said, "I think they're adorable."

"Hey, watch it, you over-grown pigdeon!" Reno yelled as he tried to cover his head with one arm while another Ostrich pecked at him.

"So, where are we taking them?" Tifa inquired, while giggling at Reno's situation.

"To my sister's house." Red answered, "She's got a petting zoo." before adding as a familiar cow, to Cissnei's dismay, came along, "By the way, Cissnei, yer old buddy Ellie the Cow is comin' with us." as the said Cow moo'ed.

"I wouldn't call ourselves friends." Cissnei pointed out sheepishly. "More of a tipper and tippie relationship."

"Okay, move on out!" Big Red hollared, as he and Little Red took the lead.

The students of Radiant Academy followed, as Scrooge waved at the group since he was riding with Red, Medium Red and Tiny. Mickey, Donald and Ven all waved back only for the latter to tumble and fall off his horse, causing Melody and Isa to glance at him.

"I was, uh, testing the ground." Ven sheepishly replied before getting back on his horse and followed the group.

* * *

Around an hour or half an hour later that the group were out in the open desert-like surroundings. Little Red, impressed with Arlene's skills, rode up to her, saying, "Yer really good at Horseback, Arlene. Maybe yeh should stick 'round for another week."

"I really appreciate it, but I have to ultimately pass." Arlene replied with a smirk. "That being said, I'm a City Girl, you're a Country Boy."

"Oh." Little Red muttered, disappointed.

"Look, Little Red. The two of us...it's not a good look." Arlene added, as Little Red went up further ahead. A saddened chirping from Reject caused her to glance at him, and she shrugged, "What? I was telling the truth."

After a little while longer, Lann, having an idea, then began to sing ' _Home on the Range_ ' in a Western voice, much to Reynn's annoyance, while Iago and Mushu both covered their ears to block out the horrible singing as much as they both could. When he finished, he chuckled, saying to his sister, "Good one, huh?"

"I don't know you." She groaned in response.

"Man, even Polly can sing better than that kid can." Mushu complained while cleaning out his ear to rid the ringing.

"Thank for the compliment of my talent." Iago responded sarcastically.

"Donald, maybe you shouldn't even think about it." Daisy suggested to her boyfriend who looked like he was about to do something as well.

"I was only wishing for earmuffs." Donald replied, as they were now walking along the path of a canyon, which, one false move and they could fall into the rivine below.

"You glad you decided to come with us, Ven?" Melody asked with a smile.

Ven nodded, "Yeah. I wouldn't wanna miss this!" but then he accidently bumped into Arlene who grunted.

"Control your Horse, Ventus!" Arlene yelled, before panicking as Reject was starting to fall out of the pouch. "Reject!" She cried out, hurrying to save her 'baby', only for nearly falling off her Horse who stopped and panicked, dangerously close to the edge of the cliff, and soon everyone stopped.

"Arlene!" Ven cried out as he tried to lasso Elena's cousin, but lassoed Donald instead and accidently pulled him into a cactus, where he screamed out in pain upon contact. This caused the Ostriches to go into a panic frenzy and spread around the road in a terrified scramble, which caused Big Red to be thrown off his Horse and onto the ground, and to his dismay, right in the path of incoming stampede of Ostriches.

"Not the face! Please, not the face!" Big Red panicked.

Iago and Mushu were both accidently knocked off as well and while the rest of the group tried to herd the Ostriches and calm them down while Daisy, Minnie, Mickey and Goofy pulled Donald out of the cactus as the latter was complaining painfully, Iago flew up to avoid in getting trempled. Too bad Mushu ended up trempled and comically squashed flat before the rest of the group managed to herd the Ostriches back into the original position.

"I think we managed to calm them down." Zack called up.

"You'd think." Myde panted in agreement, while winching in sympathy as Mushu moaned, before weakly pushing himself up, coughing and hacking up dirt that got into his mouth.

"Sorry, Mushu." Melody apologuised, getting off her Horse and gently cradled the poor injured dragon while everyone else too got off their horses, except for Little Red who went up to his father who unfortunately had been trempled on slightly as well, and Iago perched himself on a rock, sighing in relief.

"D-Did you see a Hawk drove by here?" Big Red asked, completely dazed.

"Oooh, boy. He's lost. He's got a concussion." Iago said, worriedly at Big Red's condition, while Little Red scooped up Big Red onto his Horse.

"Okay, listen guys. I hate to leave you, but I gotta get my daddy back at the Ranch." Little Red said hurriedly to the group, "Yer gonna have ta go in it alone!" much to their shock. He was leaving them!?

Before they could protest, Little Red rode off while Big Red's Horse, as though on instinct, followed, while calling out, "You can do it! Just keep at it towards the Big Mountain!" leaving the group stranded, and despite his instructions, they all felt completely lost.

"MAYBE A MAP WOULD'VE BEEN NICE!" Iago shouted back which was echoed through out the canyon, but unfortunately, Little Red was already too far to be heard or to respond.

"Okay, nobody panic." Elena called out.

"Who says we're panicking?" Goofy replied. "We're not panicking. DO YOU SEE ME PANICKING!?"

"That's supposed to be my job." Iago complained.

"You did that already." Isa pointed out, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "So, what now?"

"Aw, c'mon, fellas. This isn't the time to start an uprise." Mickey told the group.

"Easier said than done since they're starting to uprise." Myde pointed out, jerking a thumb at the Ostriches who were about to start an uprise.

"What we need is a leader." Rude pointed out, firmly.

"Ya got that right." Reno agreed, before gazing at the group, "Okay, who wants to vote whomever's gonna take lead in this?"

Everyone looked at each other before turning to Ven who flinced, as he realised that all eyes were on him and only him, causing him to say incrediously, "You gotta be kidding me."

"Ven, you can lead us." Terra said.

"No way." Ven shook his head, "I'm the last person you should be asking to be leader. It's all my fault; I'm the one who wanted to be a Cowboy only to suck and get you guys into this mess. I'm the worst wranger, worst horseman..." before grumbling as he shifted uncomfortably on his saddle, "Even my saddle is back to front."

"So you're crap at the Wild West. Who cares?" Lea pointed out. "Seriously, Ven. We're all good at some things and bad at other things! Got it memorized? I suck at Maths!"

"I suck at Cooking." Reno added.

"I suck in being patient and paying attention some times." Zack added.

"And Genie is a loser when playing all kinds of games." Iago spoke up, "He lost several times to Carpet at Chess, Pool, Checkers-"

"Okay, okay! We get it!" Donald interrupted Iago in annoyance.

"Like Lea said, everybody stinks at something. But we're all good at something too, and you, Ven, know had to lead us, like Mickey." Goofy said. "Besides, we've been through alot in different groups all the time lately, because we're buddies!"

"They're right, Ven." Mickey added, smiling. "Besides, you saved me from the giant Hades summoned when he freed Chernabog half a year ago." (As shown back in Episode 21 of Life DEFINATELY not Normal-Season 2)

Ven looked at all of his friends who all nodded in agreement, mentally giving their hopes, support and encouragement to him and to Mickey before gazing away from them for a moment. They were right. Scrooge was right, and he couldn't let them down now. It all up to him and Mickey now.

"Terra, Lea, Isa, Donald, Rude, Zack, Mushu, Vanitas, gather up the strays!" He gave out the orders firmly, "Aqua, Minnie, Daisy, Elena, Cissnei, Aerith, Tifa, Goofy, keep an eye on the rest!"

"Reno, Iago, Myde, Arlene, Cloud, Reynn, Lann, Melody, head off the back!" Mickey added, and everyone did as they were ordered, while he and Ven both shared a smile that things were quickly going smoothly already.

* * *

Another hour and the group were going okay, passing the cliffs and now were back on solid ground, nearing a small hill which went down to another empty part of the outback. The sun by then was making everyone sweat and feel thirsty.

"Phew...Let's take a break here." Ven suggested, as his Horse slowed to a stop as did everyone else's, while the Ostriches went down the hill for a break themselves.

"Great, I'm parched." Zack sighed in relief.

"Welp, with the way things are goin', we should be able to get these critters to Red's sister's house in another couple of hours." Mickey informed the group after caculating.

Myde grinned at this as he said excitedly, "Which means we'll be in time to watch Attack on Titan Junior High!"

"What makes you think she'll have a TV?" Elena asked, skeptically.

"It's comedy. Ladies love the action and laughs..." Myde grinned, almost ominously, "And Eren and his Cheeseburgers."

"If I hear Cheeseburgers one more time, I'm gonna kill you; nice and slow." Vanitas warned, irritated. Myde gulped nervously at that response.

Arlene looked to check on Reject only to gasp when she realised he wasn't there. Before she could even say a word, though, everyone then heard a sound of car engines and wheels coming from the distance below. When they all looked, to their shock and concern, all of the Ostriches were scared off into a panicked run as a four men on ATVs followed by a man in a truck were chasing them.

"What's going on down there?" Zack asked, concerned.

"Boots...belts...and BURGERS!?" Minnie exclaimed in horror as she read the sign on the side of the truck.

"They're Ostrich rustlers!" Daisy shrieked in horror.

"We have to save the Ostriches!" Aerith exclaimed, worriedly, just as Reject, who had wandered down there, was snatched up by one the Rustlers before the baby bit the man on the nose.

"AND THEY GOT REJECT!" Arlene cried out in horror. She snatched Ven by the collar, panicking, "Do something! If anything happens to the baby, I might not go on!"

"You named him Reject!" Iago reminded her incrediously.

"That was before his sweet innocence reached in and touched the warmth lovable part inside me." Arlene said warmly, before warning the group with a threat, " _ANY OF YOU TELL ANYONE, I'LL KILL YOU!_ "

Ven and Mickey both shared a worried glance as they tried to come up with a plan while the rustlers got off and had surrounded the Ostriches, forcing the birds into the back of the truck with whips to get them to obey them. It was then a plan formed into the duo's heads and they shared determinated nods.

"Myde, you, Iago and Mushu go down there with any way to create a diversion." Mickey began.

"R-Right." Myde saluted nervously.

"We're gonna die...or worse, we'll get caught! And then they'll have us arrested." Iago moaned as though the end was near, only to be dragged along by Mushu to follow the nervous but determined Myde.

"Lann, Reynn, flatten the truck's tires." Ven said to the twins who were shocked.

"With what?" Lann asked.

"Your spurs on your boots." Ven answered, pointing at the spiky sparks on the twins' boots as Lann and Reynn saw this and both nodded, immediately agreeing with Ven.

"Minnie, Daisy, Goofy, Cissnei, you all hide in the bushes, and when the time comes, lasso the ATVs and tie them to the rocks." Mickey instructed.

"You bet, Mickey!" Minnie agreed with a serious salute.

"Arlene, think you, Elena, Aerith and Melody can tie the ropes together enough to hold them for a while?" Ven asked.

"Please, have you seen what I can do with this silk scarf?" Arlene scoffed smuggly before she took off her scarf and whipped it enough that it somehow made a knot in mid-air all by itself.

Ven nodded, "Okay, so after you get the tailgate down, Arlene, you call Reject. The rest of the Ostriches will follow."

"Lea, Isa, Reno, Rude, you guys lasso those rustlers so they can't recover quickly." Mickey instructed next.

"Roger that." Reno saluted with two fingers as his cousin and their two friends nodded in agreement, with Lea chuckling.

"Terra, you, Donald, Aqua, Zack, Cloud, Tifa, Vanitas and Goofy round the Ostriches up." Ven concluded.

"Got it." Terra nodded, as did Donald, Aqua, Zack, Cloud, Tifa, Goofy and Vanitas.

The group then went straight to work.

* * *

The rustlers finished up packing up the Ostriches while one of them that picked up Reject put him into the truck as well, closing the tailgate and congratluate themselves. It was then that, at Mickey's signal, Myde, Iago and Mushu came out of hiding from a rock.

"TA-DA!" Myde hollared while holding up a harmonica as did Iago and Mushu, and when they got the four rustlers' attentions, the four men watched in confusion as the trio played the instuments while dancing to put on a good show, the same way two of them and Genie did when everyone tried to help with Goofy's new bike.

While the rustlers were distracted and completely confused, Lann and Reynn secretly snuck up to the back of the truck and placed their spurs in the front of the back tires and gave each other a thumbs up before sneaking away. The driver, who saw one of them in the review mirror, growled before quickly attempting to drive off, only to jerk when he realised too late as the back tires were flattened, alerting the rustlers.

At this signal, Minnie, Daisy, Goofy and Cissnei all lassoed the ATVs as Elena, Arlene, Aerith and Melody tied the ropes on the rocks, causing the rustlers who tried to drive at them to fall off when their vehicles jerked to a violent tug and fell sideways on the ground.

The rustlers attempted to get up and find who was responsible, only for Lea, Isa, Reno and Rude to lasso the four them and tied them up tightly into around single rope trap, the four future Turks grinning almost evilly at the four men who glared back.

"So sorry, but that's what you get for stealing OUR Ostriches and trying to have them for food." Lea said, before hurrying off with his cousin and friends.

Mickey and Ven then lassoed the tailgate, without Ven messing up and he and Mickey laughed happily for this victory as Reynn and Elena quickly pulled the tailgate down.

Arlene then went over to the truck, calling out in relief, "Reject! Momma's here!"

Reconizing his 'mother', Reject chirped before hurrying over to Arlene as she picked him up and hugged him happily, while the Ostriches followed and Donald, Terra, Aqua, Cloud, Tifa and Vanitas and Goofy quickly rounded up the birds.

"Yee-haw! Get along, li'l doggies!" Goofy hollared, chuckling, "Ay-yhuck! I've always wanted to say that."

"Hey, I was about to say that." Donald complained, before looking to see that the driver was hurrying over to free the rustlers and gulped, "Uh-oh!"

"C'mon! Hurry!" Mickey called out, as everyone else got back on their horses and all reunited to herd the Ostriches through the field and hurried over to the canyon walls, following Ven while Mushu then had an idea and just as the driver freed his four companions, the dragon blasted a flame of fire which not only burnt and flattened the ATVs' tires, but also burnt' the five criminal men's clothes off save for their underwear, leaving them all behind in humiliation and stranded for a long while.

"Now that's what I call a roasted marshmellow." Mushu grinned smugly, which made Iago burst out laughing.

However, they heard more tire squeeling and when they looked back, their eyes widened as five MORE rustlers came on more ATVs, chasing after them. Ven and Mickey signaled their friends to hurry with the Ostriches despite the bad guys catching up. But Goofy somehow managed to take time to stop and quickly fiddle with the wirings of the fence to make it into a road block which, the spikes of the wirings caused four of the ATV tires to flatten. He flew his wrench like a gun and twirled it before pocketing it and returned to his horse and hurried after his friends.

As they made their escape and almost in the canyon, Cissnei rode along side Ellie with a smile, relieved that, despite the cow being annoying to her, she was safe. But as she went to pat her, she accidently tapped it on the backside, causing the Cow to halt to a stop before collasping on it's side, much to her horror, realising that, at the wrong time, she tipped it.

Cissnei reared her horse to a stop and got off to see if Ellie was okay, only to gasp as one last rustler came towards her and the cow. As the young woman braced herself while trying her best to protect Ellie, the man panicked as he saw another road block and reared the wrong way, causing his ATV to jerk and fall onto the side and he fell right off it and into a cactus bush, causing him to yell out in pain.

Relieved and apologetic, Cissnei patted the cow on the side, whispering, "Back when I called you a Milk-Bag, I take it back." and somehow the Cow smiled, accepting the apology, before the two hurried to catch up to the others, with Cissnei back on her horse.

"We managed to save the day as a big team!" Iago cheered, "And without magic or weapons! Unless, you wanna count the lasso parts."

"And those guys didn't even see us comin'!" Lea laughed.

"Not even their back up could stop us." Isa agreed.

"You know, for once I wasn't terrified when the three of us confronted them." Myde happily. "I found the courage and determination, just like Eren!"

"And it's thanks to you and Mickey, Ven." Aqua praised happily.

Ven blushed, saying, "Well, we had awesome friends to help out."

"Welp, let's get these birds home." Mickey suggested, "I think we've had enough adventure for one day."

But when they thought the craziness was over, all of the sudden they heard the familair sounds of thunder booming, with dark clouds covering the sky and a heavy rainfall poured down, soaking everyone and the animals. To make things worse, due to the sudden heavy rain, a flood of water was quickly coming, forcing all of them to the corner for safety, but to their dismay, the waters were quickly rising, trapping them.

"What're we gonna do? The Ostriches won't cross the river!" Melody cried out.

"Well, we can't go back where we came! The rustlers will get us!" Donald cried out, worriedly.

"There's got to be a way out of this." Cloud muttered firmly.

"Uh, no pressure, guys, but it would be if any one of you could figure this out in, oh, say in the next five or six seconds!" Mushu pointed out as the horse he and Melody were on were about to become underwater as the tides were now up to the horses' and Ostriches' ankles.

"All we need to do is have one of the Ostriches to cross so the rest of them can follow." Mickey suggested.

"But how's that gonna happen?" Lea asked.

Ven thought, before another idea came into mind and with determination, rode over to one Ostrich, grabbed it by the neck and awkwardly attempted to get onto it's back while it protested and struggled.

"What are you doing? You can't even control a horse!" Arlene grumbled.

"You idiot! You're gonna ride it?" Vanitas scoffed.

"Ven, are you nuts?" Elena gapped.

"No, I saw it on TV." Ven replied, while trying not to fall off while controlling the Ostrich, and despite the fumbles, he somehow sucessfully got to cross the river and reach the other side where the road leads to the rest of the journey. Quickly enough, the rest of the Ostriches followed, and everyone cheered and sighed in relief.

"And the Headmasters say we don't get out enough." Zack laughed, as the storm finally passed and the sun came back out. Once they were at the other side, they were now towards the familiar field that was still on way on their journey, when Arlene paused and noticed that something was wrong.

"Reject!?" She gasped, realising that the baby was missing, before hearing his panicked cries and looked and saw to her horror that the baby was stuck in the mud, having fallen out. "REJECT!"

Gasping, Melody rushed over and jumped into the mud, pulling Reject out and freeing him, handing him to a relieved Arlene who got off her horse.

"Oh, you poor baby! Mommy's here!" Arlene squealed and repeatedly kissed him despite being muddy. "Don't you ever scare me like that again or I'm putting you on a time-out chair!" She scolded before cooing in baby-talk, "Is my sweet little Reject okay? Yes, he's dirty but he's okay." which had the rest of the girls, Iago and Mushu look at her oddly.

"That's my cousin." Elena sighed, embarrassed and exasperated.

"I think I liked it better when she wanted to eat him." Daisy commented.

"Me too." Iago agreed, blurting out, "It's like the time Al' caught me going all romantic on Thundera." before gasping and covering his mouth too late.

"Who's Thundera?" Melody asked as she got back onto her horse, covered in Mud but not minding.

Blushing, Iago panickly said, "N-No one! I didn't say a thing! I-I said it's like the time that Al' told Genie to zap me with Thunder!"

"I thought you said Aladdin caught you doing all romantic someone named Thundera." Ven pointed out with a smirk.

"Old girlfriend?" Isa asked with a grin.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about." Iago said stubbornly while looking away.

"You had a girlfriend a long time ago? Do tell." Lea grinned somewhat evilly, as he grabbed hold of the bird.

"NO!" Iago protested, trying to break free while they all continued onward, with him stuck in Lea's grasp and the teenager refused to let him go easily. "I'm not telling! Everybody doesn't talk about what they don't want to! Why can't I not say something for once? Put, me, down!"

* * *

In the end, Iago didn't speak another word of the subject and eventually the girls told the guys to drop while they all continued on with the Ostrich Drive without any further incidents, and were back on track. Eventually, they came to a stop which a small hill overviewed a new barn, and to their relief, they saw a familiar vehicle just arriving.

"It's Tiny's truck!" Cissnei exclaimed in relief.

"We made it!" Minnie beamed happily.

"Yaa-hoo!" Mickey cheered.

"Yee-haw!" Donald echoed.

Everyone cheered at their success and the Students all threw their hats in the air as they, Iago and Mushu all celebrated that they came to Red's sister's house at long last.

As they all prepared to complete their journey, Ven and Terra rode side by side, with the latter praising his younger best friend, "You did it, Ven. Congratulations."

"You guys did it. I helped Mickey to tell you what to do. I'm still a pretty lousy Cowboy." Ven pointed out sheepishly.

"Yeah, but you're a great leader. A skill like that will one day make you a leader of SOLDIER side by side with Zack, Cloud, Angeal, and Sephiroth. I knew you'd pull it off." Terra said with a smile.

"I still have to pass the school years." Ven chuckled.

"Good point." Terra agreed, and the two friends shared a laugh, while their horses neighed.

"Would'a say we show them the big finished, huh, partner?" Ven suggested.

Terra nodded in agreement and the two of them rode towards the ranch. Ven tried to hold on but ended up having his hat fall off followed by the rest of him as he landed onto the ground. Thankfully, he didn't have any injuries as he put his hat back on and hurried to catch up to the others. When they arrived, Medium Red and an older woman whom the group knew was Red's sister as the former waved at the group with her hat and they returned the gesture while the Ostriches were led into the petting zoo. They were also greeted by Red himself along with Scrooge who smirked as the group got off their horses.

"Well, I'll be a horse's behind. I don't know how you kids done it, but you done all right." Red commented at the group who smiled shyly.

"When yeh have some trouble, you get trouble back right in the face." Scrooge said to his old friend.

"Gee, Scrooge. Even though you said that 'bout 6,000 times, I never get tired of hearin' it." Red replied while pulling out a ward of money from his pockets and handed it over to the already really rich duck, "Here ya go, old man."

When Red walked off, Scrooge went over to his Donald, Mickey and Ven, saying, "Thanks, lads. That was the easiest money I've ever made."

"You mean you bet on us?" Mickey asked, surprised. Donald and Ven shared a stunned expression.

"No doubt 'bout and I knew you all did it in a punch." Scrooge replied. That made the trio smile and while Ven shared a high-five with Scrooge, Donald and Mickey both hugged him happily as that made their day even more.

"Ah, who says us City Slickers can't learn what other cultures can do?" Lea smirked as he, Isa, Reno and Rude smiled at the scene before them.

"Yeah. Sure it's not for a living, but it's still learnin'." Reno agreed, with Rude grunting in agreement.

Isa sighed, saying, "Yeah, it's too bad it's already over."

No one argued with that. It had been a long but exciting week and it suddenly made all of them and their friends realise that the week wasn't that long after all. Time flies when you're having fun.

* * *

Later that night, everyone had a campfire dinner to celebrate the Radiant Academy group's victory and first success of their first Drive, sharing the story of their adventure and how they encountered the Ostrich rustlers.

"...And then we used our spurs to flatten their tires." Lann was saying.

"When they tried to drive off, they couldn't!" Iago laughed.

"And then we tied them all up with our ropes so they couldn't make a quick escape." Lea laughed.

"It was all Ven and Mickey's idea." Vanitas chuckled.

"Yeah. We never would've made it without these guys." Zack smiled at both Ven and Mickey who both smiled sheepishly in return and Scrooge smiled proudly at the group.

The group in the meantime were eating Melody's meal that she cooked and whatever she made everyone was enjoying it happily.

"Melody, I'm being serious here!" Reynn complimented to the half-human-half-mermaid as she wolfed down her food, "This is the best meal I've ever had in my life!"

"What's the secret ingredient?" Tiny asked, only for Melody to look away, not saying anything. "C'mon, yeh' can tell Tiny. I taught ya' everythin' ya know."

Melody shook her head, saying, "Sorry. Serious chefs like myself take our secrets to the grave." though when she saw Tiny's eyes widen before he looked down in pouting disappointment, she sighed with a smile, "Oh, alright."

She then whispered in Tiny's ear, "I used Seaweed with Mustard."

"Seaweed?" Tiny asked, looking down at his food. His face lit up in awe, "Genius. Yer a genius."

As Cissnei was about to eat her burger, she heard the moo coming from Ellie who was by the fence hear the group. As though realising what the problem was, the teeanged girl went off, saying assuringly, "Relax, Ellie. It's a veggie burger. I mean, after everything we went through, you think I'd ever do that to you?"

Ellie just mooed in response.

* * *

A little while later, Arlene, knowing that she can't keep Reject despite that it broke her heart, saw the familiar and slumping figure of Little Red near the porch. Remembering something and having an idea, she approached the teenaged Cowboy.

"Hey, Little Red." Arlene spoke up, surprising him a little.

"What's wrong, Arlene?" Little Red asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just...well, I actually came to..." Arlene paused slightly before sighing, "Apologuise. I haven't meant to hurt your feelings, and you're a really cool dude. I'm sure one day you'll find the right girl."

Little Red didn't know what to say to that, but smiled as he accepted the apology.

Remembering one last thing as she hugged Reject for the last time, Arlene continued, "Meanwhile, I want you to have and take care of someone since this was the best summer of my life." and handed the baby Ostrich to Little Red who carefully held him in his arms.

"Ya' sure, Arlene?" The Cowboy asked.

"I can't take him home or to the Academy. The school wouldn't like having an Ostrich since we already have a parrot, a dragon and a dog, and my mother would freak out." Arlene shrugged, "Ya' know how them city girls can be."

The Ostrich Chick smiled and nuzzled warmly at Little Red who smiled at the adorable baby. Arlene smiled while stepping back before turning and walked away, silently crying for having to say goodbye to the baby whom she would always love in her heart. Reject watched Arlene leave with a saddened look, somehow knowing that it would be the last time in his entire life he would ever see his 'mother' again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Myde, still determined to find the source of his favorite new show, wandered around the place until he heard some kind of noise coming from a small shack. The music sounded very familiar.

Opening the door to peek, his face lit up brightly as his suspicion was true; a large TV up against the wall, live and everything, with seemingly a repeat of episode 5 of Attack on Titan Junior High was on. At the couch in front of it was none other than Red who was eating a tub of Ice Cream.

When the elder Cowboy heard a noise, he turned his head and his eyes widened when he saw Myde standing there with a smug and victorious grin on his face.

"You are so totally busted!" Myde told the old Cowboy as he approached while closing the door behind him.

"Ah!" Red yelped before standing up and covering the TV with his whole body, pleading, "I'm beggin' ya, son! Don't tell anybody! I've got a reputation 'round these parts."

Myde considered it as he sat on the couch, before saying, " _Weellll_ , okay, here's how it's gonna work. I won't go rattin' you out IF you tell me about episode 2 of the show and what happened after Eren lost his Cheese-Burg-Steak."

"I can do ya' better." Red suggested, opening a cabit full of videos, "I've taped all twelve episodes as they repeat every three months."

Myde beamed at this, as the current episode ended and Red put in the tape into the spare VHS of episode two, before asking, "So, what happened? Is everything okay for now?"

"Good news, the Titans didn't attack again after the ceremony." Red began as he took a seat next to Myde. "Bad news, Eren's friend Amin can't go nowhere's without somethin' to cover his head and one Titan nearly stole Amin's food Eren and that girl brought 'im."

The two of them proceeded in watching the show before bedtime. For one thing, Myde had finally succeeded after an entire week of a self-cliffhanger.

* * *

Back with the rest of the gang, Ven and Mickey went to have a privite chat of their own.

"You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish we didn't have to leave tomorrow." Ven said as he and Mickey both sat on the fence.

"Me too." Mickey agreed, "This is the best summer we'll always remember."

The two smiled at each other and at the group around the campfire, before Ven spoke up again, "For you guys. Even Goofy made a great Cowboy."

"Yep. Goofy may be, well, goofy, but deep down, I think he's sometimes braver than even I am. It's too bad all of the stuff we learned out here aren't gonna do much back at the Academy." Mickey replied, as he and Ven both sighed. The teenage Mouse then pulled out a harmonica from his pockets and began playing.

"You play a Harmonica?" Ven chuckled, as Mickey paused with a smile.

"Just somethin' I learned from Genie. I kinda picked it up easily." Mickey replied before he resumed in playing, making really nice music.

"Speaking of Genie, can't wait to tell him everything we went through when we get back." Ven smiled, while listening to his friend playing the harmonica and surprisingly, Mickey didn't mess up as he both listened and continued to play the instument.

It had indeed been one of the greatest summers our heroes had as well as another thrilling adventure today. They would tomorrow then say goodbye to the Wild West and along with Scrooge returned home to Radiant City with fond memories as life in Radiant Academy continued.

But what they didn't know was that more thrilling adventures were waiting for them up ahead. What kind, only time would tell.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: Another adventure completed and more yet to come. See you in the next episode as soon as I'm able to post again!**


	15. Episode 15: Separate But Equal

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Before we begin, and I know it's kinda late now, but actor David Ogden Stiers, who I've known to be the voice of Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast(the animated version), The Hunchback from Notre Dame, and Atlantis, has sadly passed away last week, aged only 75. I feel very terrible for him.**

 **Rest in Peace, David Ogden Stiers. Everyone misses you so much.**

 **Well...lets begin. By the way, this chapter is also once again cross-overed with the Second Chance Series fanfics.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 15: Separate But Equal.

One would think that, given the setting of a floating fortress, that things are rather crazy. Because Lann, dressed in some kind of warrior suit or something, runs up the stairs while avoiding a Griffin that chasing him.

"Nothing will keep me from the Card Master!" Lann declared, turning to face the Griffin with determination, tossing a Card which morps into a Black Knight Warrior, "Take that, bird-brain!"

Lann's Card Summon then trapped the Griffin into a Barrier Cube which shrank out of existance. The Black Knight then vanishes back into it's card form, just as Lann hears an evil laughter when he turns to see a purple-skinned man in a black robe hover down towards him.

"You fool! You walked right into my trap!" The Card Master declared evilly, showing Lann a Card which had some kind of Troll or something picture on it.

"The Sol-Cano!?" Lann exclaimed, shocked.

"Yes! The most powerful Card in all existance! There's no single card that can out match it's Hot Volcano." The Card Master grinned.

Lann begged to differ, as he pulled out a Card with a purple-skinned Princess's picture on it as he pointed out, "Princess Yu-Yo-Ko can!"

"Princess Yu-Yo-Ko is powerless without the Third Eye Card." The Card Master declared once more.

"We know!" A familiar voice declared, and when the Card Master turned to look who spoke this time, Reynn was there, in the same outfit as her brother, hovering as she was showcasting the Third Eye Card. Her borther levitated to meet the evil Master's level, causing the villian to gasp before quickly summoning his Card and hovering up to avoid them.

"Boy, am I hot!" The Sol-Cano spoke as he materalized.

"How hot are you?" The twins asked challengingly.

"I am so hot, I need a muffin mit...to pick my nose!" He replied while demostrating, much to disgust of Lann and Reynn who groaned, grossed out. This insulted the Sol-Cano who then shot out a stream of Lava from his head as he was a humaniod volcano. The twins dodged and first Lann summoned Princess Yu-Yo-Ko before Reynn summoned the Third Eye Card to give the Princess the power. She unleashed a beam which not only made the Lava disappear, but also destroy the shocked Sol-Cano who was eliminated. The Card Master, furious, retreats.

Once the summoning was done, Lann and Reynn share a glance as a computer-female voice announced, " _ **You have successfully completed Level 5.**_ "

* * *

" _ **You have successfully completed Level 5.**_ "

Lann and Reynn cheered, as it was revealed that the entire adventure they experienced was a simulation game in the Arcade they were visiting along with their friends, based on the famous Card Game "Yu-Gotta-Go". The twins had been wearing helmets while playing the game and had just finished the fifth level.

"Hey, time to go." Terra called up as he, Aqua, Zack and Aerith approached. Lann and Reynn removed the helmets and put them back before rejoining their friends.

"So, got any idea for the party?" Zack asked, eagerly.

See, it was Lann and Reynn's birthday coming up, and every year everyone gathers for whatever the twins have in mind.

"Oh, we already know what we want." Reynn began. "Yu-Gotta-Go snacks, Princess Yu-Yo-Ko's illusion hologram..."

"And free vouchers for all ride!" Lann added, grinning, "Including the Rollocoster..."

"Sol-Cano's Volcanic Explosion!" The twins said in union as they and their friends begin to leave.

Reynn giggled, "I'm so excited! This is gonna be the best Birthday ever!"

Her brother made to reply, but the farewell hologram of Princess Yu-Yo-Ko distracted him. Lann couldn't keep his eyes off her which caused him to accidently bump into plant trouger. As Terra and Zack went over to see if he's alright, Lann's eyes returned to the hologram.

"Dude...I've seen that Hologram so many times, but I never noticed until now...it's hot." Lann mumured.

"Ah, you're finally catchin' up, huh?" Zack smirked.

"Yeah, growing up can get to you fast." Terra nodded in agreement, causing their girlfriends to roll their eyes with smiles.

"Speaking of growing up...we have something important to do." Aerith remembered firmly, turning to Aqua who's eyes widened before she nodded and turned to Reynn.

"Reynn...we need your help for some serious business." Aqua told the now nervous Reynn who then quickly realised what her friend was talking about.

Poor Melody.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the three teenage women brought Melody and another girl close to her age, Rydia who had emerald hair and could actually pass on as Girl-Terra's younger sister, to the local store where the two pre-teens were trying on...well, girl stuff.

"Man! These things are like a double-slingshot!" Melody complained, before winching in sympathy as she heard Rydia cry out from another dressing stall, "Ow!" before asking her classmate after finishing up dressing, "So, you gonna wear it to School tomorrow?"

"I was going to wait until my family trip to Wutai." Rydia replied, after she and Melody finally walked out, back in their clothes and admired themselves, "Which, by the way, is gonna be completely awesome!"

"Hey." Reynn spoke up as she approached the two younger girls. "Melody, this is where your life changes forever...and it's not going to be easy being a teenager. Believe me, Aerith, Aqua and I know too well."

Melody and Rydia just shared a skeptical look.

Little did they all know that today would make things...well, you'll find out.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Academy, Lann was now with Ven, Lea and Isa in the fields at the sports area, with Lann practicing scoccer with scoccer balls shooting out from Genie's magical cannon and Lann's aim is the kick them.

"So, everything's sorted out for the Birthday Party?" Ven asked.

"Yep! All sorted!" Lann answered after kicking another ball.

"The coolest part of it is we get to go onto the Sol-Cano volcanic Explosion ride!" Lea grinned with excitement, and his friends nodded in agreement.

After kicking another ball for a brief silence, Lann then asked the others, "Hey, you guys ever notice that Princess Yu-Yo-Ko is a bit of a hottie?"

"Uh, with or without her third eye?" Isa asked with a smirk.

"Both!" Lann answered with a grin.

"Yeah." Ven admitted, blushing a little.

"Totally hot!" Lea grinned in agreement. "Man, I wish she was real. I could've easily asked her out for a date. It's too bad she's only a character and a hologram."

Isa scoffed, "Like you'd be able to get a girlfriend that way."

"He's right." Ven teased.

"Hey!" Lea pouted, while his friends laughed, though he did join in the laugh.

"You know, it's weird. I never thought girls would suddenly change to look beautiful." Lann admitted, and he was confused on that.

"It's not the girls, man." Lea pointed out with a knowing grin. "That's part of growin' up. It's you who's developing an inner change."

"Me?" Lann asked, before waving it off, "Nah! I'm still the same o'le Lann." only to notice a very pretty female student at another court next to his and his eyes widened at how really beautiful she was...to the point that he was so distracted that a scoccer ball hit him in the head. "Ow!"

Yep. It's Lann going through an inner change, all right.

* * *

Later that night, Ven, Lea and Isa were in Lea's room, watching a vampire movie, leaning against his bed. Reno, Cloud, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Mushu, and Genie were with the trio, cringing at the scary parts...including the one that just came up now.

 _ **"AAAGGGGHHH!" A woman screamed as a bat appeared before she fell onto the floor unconscious. She had two bite marks on the right side of her neck, and she wore a red dress. Her husband held her in his arms while looking at an elderly man who watched the bat fly out of the window.**_

 _ **"What are we going to do?" the husband asked in a feared tone.**_

 _ **The older man replied, "The Dracula Bat seems to be on the hunt for her and had succeeded. Now that she's been biten twice, it'll be a matter of time before she goes into transformation." before he added, "Unless she is, so eye's ridden, she'll become one of the Undead."**_

 _ **The younger man didn't like the sound of that, as he dropped his unconscious wife, asking in a scared and dumbfounded tone, "I'm going to have a Vampire for a wife?!"**_

 _ **"Uh...look on the bright side," The older man said, trying to lighten the mood, "She'll look young forver."**_

The only ones who weren't terrified were Reno, Lea and Isa.

"Seriously. This is the most cheesy movie ever." Lea shook his head with a smirk.

"If you ask me, the acting's really terrible." Isa rolled his eyes.

"But that's the fun part!" Reno pointed out with a grin. "The worse the movie, the better it is."

"Yeah, easy for you to say." Mushu grumbled, hugging Genie in fright. "I'll laugh at ya' for havin' nightmares tonight!"

"I don't even want to think about the nightmares I'll be having tonight." Cloud shuddered.

"Yeah, me neither." Ven nodded in agreement. Mickey, Goofy and Genie didn't argue with him on that one. Donald on the other hand, tried to keep his fear sealed up and act brave over a movie.

"Aw, phooey! We're all just a bunch of scaredy cats. I'm not scared of some dumb movie!" Donald scoffed, only for Lea to poke him on the back of the neck, causing the teenage duck to scream while leaping three feet in the air and cling onto Goofy's neck and shoulders, shivering.

Lea and Reno both bursted out laughing while Isa just chuckled.

"What was that you said about not being scared by some dumb movie?" Genie mocked with a knowing grin.

"He has a point." Goofy shrugged in agreement.

Mickey smiled a little, saying, "Oh, nice try, Donald. But nobody's fooled."

"Oh, nuts." Donald grumbled, annoyed.

* * *

In Lann and Reynn's shared bedroom, she was helping Melody with her new first Bra which was pink. Reynn was showing her one after demostrating to the half-human-half-mermaid how to wear it and how it would be covered by T-shirts.

"There we go." Reynn smiled, before slipping Melody's top on. "So, how does it feel?"

"It's a little weird, but I'll get used to it." Melody replied...

Just as the door opened and when both of them turned, Reynn forgot to put her shirt back on and, to her and Melody's horror, Lann walked in, but he froze upon seeing his sister...in her Bra and his eyes widened in equal horror. Reynn gasped before covering her upper-half as much as she could with her arms.

"AAAAHHH!" Lann screamed in horror.

"AAAAAAHHH! AAAAAAHHHH!" Reynn screamed before she and Melody hid behind her bed.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Lann screamed while running out of the room in terror, now convinced that his eyes were stinging from the most terrifying sight he'd ever seen in his life and on his sister of all people.

* * *

Early the next morning, Mickey splashed water on his face to wake himself up but still felt really tired. That movie scared him so much that he didn't get much sleep last night and if he was this exhausted, he could just imagine Ven, Donald, Goofy, Mushu, Genie and Cloud all having the same problem; no sleep and completely tired.

Yawning again, Mickey attempted to splash himself again, only to slowly slide to the ground and fell asleep, snoring...and dreaming.

* * *

 _When he opened his eyes, Mickey found himself in a hauntingly familiar hallway, all dark and a pitch-black darkness in front of him. He gasped as he realised what was happening._

 _"Not again!" Mickey softly cried out. Without even waiting for the mysterious monster to morph, he turned and made a run for it as fast as he could, reaching into the light and found himself in another corridor. He turned to his left and continued to run, even as the mysterious yellow-eyed monster formed and slowly gave chase._

 _Mickey held his breath as he felt sweat trickle down his forehead, before sighing in relief after the Monster walked past, missing him, and wiped the sweat from his face._

 _"Whew. That was close." Mickey muttered to himself, only to freeze up when he realised his voice echoed...like he was echoing in distant behind him. Slowly turning around after realising he felt a smooth and familiar surface...Mickey saw himself...in different clothing!_

 _"AH!" Mickey shrieked before falling backwards in fright and his 'double' did the same. Calming down a little, Mickey stood up, edging closer to what appeared to be a mirror or a window, and made slow movements to see if it was real. His 'double' did the same._

 _As though convinced now, Mickey weakly laughed, "Oh. Ha-ha. Just my reflection. For a second there, I-I thought I was lookin' at somebody who looked just like me."_

 _But something was very odd. His reflection was wearing...well, some kind of adventurous and noble clothing. Come to think of it, it reminded him of when Genie tried to turn him back and Mickey had been wearing those kind of clothes briefly after the third try before returning to normal. He looked at himself downward and found, to his confusion and now worry, he was wearing his red shorts and yellow shoes. The only thing that was the same were his gloves._

 _Hesitatedly looking at his reflection again, Mickey's eyes widen as his reflection was moving all by itself, because it looked behind it to see...a teenager with silver hair._

 _'_ Riku? _' Mickey thought, somehow recongising the boy as an older version of Riku. Was he seeing the future or something? Or maybe not, because next came up older versions of Lea, Isa, Sora, Kairi, Roxas and Xion, yet strangely enough, Ven, Terra, and Aqua all looked the same, but in different kinds of clothes that were similiar to what his friends were wearing. There was also a pirate, two young men he didn't recongise, Iago, Genie, Shantotto, and others he didn't recongise; a young man, a young woman, and a little monkey._

 _"What's going on?" Mickey heard the older Sora ask, puzzled._

 _"I'm not sure. But it kinda looks like I'm...seein' myself in another dimension." The other Mickey explained, twice as confused._

 _Mickey blinked, before rubbing his eyes and looked again, wondering if it was a dream or not. But no, it remained the same. While the others were talking, Iago in the mirror or whatever then shuddered in fear, while the monkey shrieked in terror._

 _"Uh, unless I'm mistakin' and I'm hallucinating...THERE'S A GIANT MONSTER RIGHT BEHIND YOUR OTHER SELF!" Iago screamed out._

 _Mickey froze as he suddenly felt the shadow loom over him, and as he heard his other self gasp along with his friends, he turned around and his eyes widened horror that the monster had appeared, and was about to grasp him..._

* * *

"WHOA!" Mickey screamed as he jerked awake, his heart pounding as Pluto stood next to him after licking him on the face. Quickly realising that he was awake and safely back in his room, but with the strange dream now making him even more worried, he couldn't help but feel scared.

Something really was coming. When he looked at the clock on his bathroom wall, his eyes widened as it was already 20 to 8:00 AM.

"Oh no! I'm gonna be late!" Mickey cried out, zooming to get dressed and get ready for today's classes.

* * *

Later that day at the Cafeteria, Mickey had joined up with most of his friends and finally told them of the nightmares he had, which included the one he had this morning. As he predicted, Ven, Donald, Goofy, Mushu and Cloud didn't look like they had much sleep either. Lea, Isa and Reno were the only ones completely unfazed.

"...Now, I don't know about you fellas, but I think somethin's about to happen. Not sure why, and I can't for the life of me figure out what that monster with yellow eyes is." Mickey concluded.

"If it's the future, then how come Ven, Terra and I haven't aged?" Aqua asked, confused and worried. "Unless something happens."

"Nah, I don't think it's the future." Terra shook his head. "I mean, it's like Mickey said. He even saw Jack Sparrow in there and he only exists in the movies."

"Not unless it's another dimension, like Mick' just said in his nightmare." Mushu pointed out.

"Most of us, I can understand. But even the Pirate movie guy? That kinda just screams completely weird." Lea shrugged, skeptical. "Not to mention that black monster, even I never heard of him."

Iago nodded, "Me neither, except that Monkey must've been Abu, and if Mickey's right, then Al' and Jasmine are what he saw."

"...Maybe it's just a strange dream, but, I've had that same dream with the monster over and over. I can't help but feel worried." Mickey sighed.

"Well, maybe the party will get your mind off of it for a while, until we can figure out what's going on." Cloud suggested, just as Lann approached, and no one noticed him or Reynn who saw her brother groan and look away from each other. Even Melody felt awkward.

"Hey, Lann. Up comin' birthday man!" Reno greeted.

"Yeah, whatever." Lann grumbled.

"Hey, Reynn. Did you get the invites?" Tifa asked, changing the mood.

To her and everyone else's confusion, Reynn and Lann both didn't look all that as excited as they had been days earlier.

"Oh, hey. I uh...I gotta hit Art Class. So uh, see you guys later." Melody muttered, fakely as she slid off the bench and walked away out of the Cafeteria. Which made most of the group even more confused.

"Is everything okay?" Aerith asked, worriedly to Reynn.

"Yeah, everythings fine. It's just..." Reynn began, but the look on her brother's face made her push her words away and muttered, "...Nothing."

"Gawrsh, Lann. You don't seem all that happy about the Party now." Goofy said, worriedly.

"I'm excited! It's just..." Lann began, but the look on his sister's face made him push his words away and muttered, "...Nothing."

"Um..." Ven muttered, puzzled. Something must've happened last night with Reynn, Lann and Melody, and with Mickey having more nightmares wasn't really helping at all.

Iago looked back and forth between the students, before asking cluelessly, "What? What is it? Is the park being closed or something? What?"

"Iago?" Zack began.

"What?"

"Shut up."

 _'Oh! Why does something bad always happen?_ ' Mickey thought to himself. As if there weren't enough problems, now Lann, Reynn and Melody were acting very strange. Looks like the mystery of his nightmares would just have to wait.

* * *

That night, Genie was helping the twins for their selection of the Birthday Cake.

"Okay! Make your orders and I'll make the Cake lickity split!" Genie, who had turned into a chef, said as he had brought out a book of all different kinds of cake flavors and decorations.

"I want an Ice Cream cake." Lann answered, still sour.

"Well, I want Cupcake." Reynn answered stubbornly, pointing at the picture of a pink cupcake.

Which Lann flinched before he deadpanned, "Well, of course you want _cupcake_."

"What's that supposed to mean?" His sister asked, before gasping and then scolded in sheer annoyance, "Ugh! Grow up, Lann!"

"You grow up!" He scolded back. "I mean, what the honk!? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Tell you what?" Reynn asked, angrily.

"That you were helping Melody! And I'm surrounded by girls!"

"You're a freak!"

"Speak for yourself! You're the one who's wearing those...those...girl things th-that girls wear!"

"A what, Lann? A what? A bra?" Reynn said, challengingly.

"Aaaah!" Lann screamed while covering his eyes as the word 'Bra' echoed in his ears. "My ears are burning!"

"Okay, okay! That's it!" Genie broke in, shoving the two siblings away to try and stop the argument. "At this rate, you'll make everybody miserable at the Park!"

"Fair enough!" Lann said stubbornly, crossing his arms as he declared, "I want a separate birthday this year!"

Despite the major disappointment for not going to the ThemePark, Reynn declared stubbornly with finality, "FINE! I want my own party too! And my own cake! With nice, pink, frilly...CUPCAKE!"

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!" Lann screamed, making Genie blown out of the room and crash into the wall, creating a wall-crater while seeing stars circle around his head.

"Uh...note to self; Never make a girl really angry." Genie muttered, scaredly, after shaking the dizziness off. "Especially if you have a twin sister."

Looks like the party is already ruined.

* * *

While both Lann and Reynn's friends that were invited were greatly disappointed that they weren't going to the Themepark for the birthday after all and would have to have a boy's party and a girl's party seperately, for the next few days before the Birthday, Mickey had kept himself busy trying to figure out the answer to his own problems.

He tried finding books of anything related to the mysterious monster in the library, and even tested almost every mirror in the Academy and even his reflections of the windows of stores in Radiant City to see if he could see the other dimension which alternate versions of himself and his friends sided or maybe even get sucked up into the said dimension similiar to Alice Through the Looking Glass story.

So far, no luck.

Now he was back in his room as Mickey flopped on his back onto his bed, exhausted and somewhat defeated. Worst part is, Yen Sid the Sorcerer hasn't been seen since he left to seal away the orb that had trapped Hades, Chernabog and their minions into, and asking Shantotto felt wrong at the moment unless he was desperate to ask her for help.

Sighing, Mickey grumbled miserably, "I'm never gonna found out about that scary monster, or the alternate dimension. Maybe Lea's right. Maybe the dimension part really is just a real dream. But what about that monster? I don't get it."

He closed his eyes to think while feeling tired after a long few days...

* * *

 _But when he opened them, Mickey gasped as he realised he'd fallen asleep again. As he made to run, this time the monster caught him in it's grasp as it just appeared, already in form._

 _"Let me go!" Mickey cried out, struggling to try and free himself, but stopped as a new strange figure stood next to the monster; it looked like a woman holding a snake staff, and she smiled cruely at him. Behind both of them, was a towering figure of a powerful and evil sorcerer...but as he was about to step into the yellow light..._

* * *

Mickey gasped as he snapped his eyes open and jolted into sitting position, panting. Great. Now a mysterious Sorceress and evil Sorcerer were included. Mickey groaned as he covered his face with his hands.

At this rate, he wasn't even up to joining his friends for Lann's party.

* * *

On the night of the double Birthday, Reynn had forced Lann and the boys-Ven, Lea, Isa, Donald, Goofy, Zack, Cloud, Reno, Rude, Iago, Mushu, Myde, Zidane, and Genie into the tent outside in the School grounds with the Headmasters' permission, while she and the girls-Aqua, Aerith, Tifa, Melody, Girl-Terra, Selphie, Garnet, Cissnei, Clarabelle, Daisy and Elena were in the bedroom, all in pjs. The girls also had face-smoothing cream on their faces, which by now hardened slightly.

The only ones absent on both sides were Mickey and Minnie.

"We were only supposed to leave this on for fifteen minutes." Daisy said as she read the instructions on the back, before asking, "How long has it been?"

"Two hours." Elena replied. "How come this isn't as fun as I expected it to be?"

No one answered, and instead, Clarebelle looked out of the window to see shadows of the boys in their tent, and from the looks of things, they were having a blast despite the cramped space.

Having an idea, she turned back to her friends and suggested, "How about a game of Truth or Dare."

"Okay." Reynn agreed, deciding that it was something to do. "I'll go first; Dare."

"I dare you to party with the boys." Clarabelle dared.

Realising the game already, Reynn denied, "Not happening."

"Why not?" Selphie asked, grumbling.

"I agree. The boys look like they're having a great time." Clarabelle added.

"I would, but the thing is, Lann's been acting weird lately." Reynn sighed.

Melody, feeling guilty, sighed before saying, "I think it's because of me. Ever since I got a Bra, it changed everything."

The rest of the girls were surprised, while Aqua and Aerith both shared realizing expressions. So that's why the three of them were acting so strange lately.

"You got your first Bra? You're growing up fast, Melody." Garnet remarked.

"Why is it a big surprise?" Melody shrugged.

"Well, for one thing, it's less painful compared to shaving legs." Elena pointed out, shuddering. "Not that I have hairy legs, I don't like the idea of it. That's why I do it. I had to wait until I was thirteen before my Mom let me."

"Fourteen." Tifa referenced herself.

"I'm not allowed to do mine until I'm married." Garnet sighed.

Reynn sighed, saying disheartedly, "To tell the truth, I'm not really into growing up."

"I know it's hard, but if we didn't, we'd be...well, having a hard life." Aqua said, gently.

"No." Daisy teasingly corrected, "We'd be boys." which resulted in all of them laughing, but then winched in pain as the hardened cream were so stuck to their faces that the cream cracked, hurting them in the skin.

They had to be careful with that now.

* * *

At the same time in Lann's tent, it turns out that the boys were in fact _not_ having a blast at all. If anything, most of them were complaining and bored just as much as the girls were.

"Can we go in now?" Myde whined. "It's too cold out here!"

"And too dark." Goofy added.

"And too cramped!" Iago complained in annoyance. "Why do the girls get the nice, warm, Academy while we're stuck in this blanket held up by sticks?"

"We could always swing over to Mickey's room." Zack suggested, "See how he's faring."

"Aw, c'mon, dudes." Lann said, trying to lighten the mood before suggesting, "How 'bout a game of Yu-Gotta-Go?"

 _Five minutes later..._

"It is just me, or is the Princess Yu-Yo-Ko hologram hot?" Zidane asked, and those who didn't have girlfriends or wasn't a bird or a dragon agreed.

"Hey, Rude. I forgot to ask. Just how many Sunglasses do ya' have?" Goofy spoke up, noticing that the stotic older teen always wore sunglasses except for bedtime.

Reno snickered and said with a smirk, "He has so many that he could open an entire store by himself." to which his friend, despite feeling a bit awkward, nodded in agreement.

"I have enough sunscreen to open a store." Lann pointed out with a smirk.

"Well, I have enough feather-gel to become the richest parrot in the world." Iago proudly said, only for Genie to tap him on the head, which caused his feathers to become briefly poofy like he'd been an electric socket.

"Yeah, I wish." Ven teased, laughing as were the rest of the group. He then suggested, "Hey, let's see what the girls are up to."

"You do that while _I_ try to get myself back to normal." Iago grumbled, while the boys, except for Lann were about to crawl out of the tent.

Lann, however, still sore about his tension with his sister, spoke up to stop his friends, "Hold on." which worked as they all turned to him while he suggested, with a somewhat nasty grin, "Tell you what. I won't party with the girls...but I am all for pranking them!"

Despite that Ven, Mushu, Genie and Goofy weren't thrilled with the idea, and neither were Zack or Cloud, maybe a little fun against the girls wasn't such a bad idea.

So they all went out of the tent, and as Lann pulled out a camera, he climbed up a ladder up to his and Reynn's bedroom window, where his sister and the girls she invited, still with face-cream on, were singing along to a song. Making sure he didn't make a noise, he grinned before taking photos, mainly at his sister. By the time Reynn noticed, so many pictures were taken. She screamed before glaring at Lann's direction, while Clarabelle and Daisy, who also noticed, screamed before fleeing to hide from the window.

"LANN! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Reynn shrieked and shoved the window doors open so fast that the impact caused Lann to be pushed backwards and he and the ladder fell onto the ground with a thud after screaming. She poked out of the open window and asked, "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." Lann replied, sitting on the ground calmly.

"TOO BAD!" His sister yelled before slamming the window shut, while Lann stood up and his friends approached him, some of them laughing.

"That was classic!" Reno laughed.

Lann grinned, "That was a warm up." before asking Zidane, "Hey, Zidane. Do ya' still have that Global Wireless cable?"

Zidane smirked before being given the camera. He knew what Lann had in mind.

"I think this is going a bit too far." Genie muttered worriedly.

"Way too far." Cloud agreed.

"Yeah, no kidding." Zack nodded.

"I wish I knew what caused this to happen in the first place." Ven sighed, shaking his head.

Lea sinickered, "Ah, it's just a little harmless fun. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I don't know. Good thing Mickey isn't here." Goofy thought, worriedly.

* * *

"I can't believe he took pictures of me with my hair like this!" Reynn complained while her friends were cleaning up their faces and brushing their hair. "That jerk!"

"Relax, Reynn." Daisy told her friend. "So some of the guys are gonna see us. It's not the end of the world."

As if Murphy's Law happened, Reynn's computer suddenly announced that she got an email. Curious, she and her friends approached and opened it up. To their shock, it was the same first photo Lann took of Reynn, Daisy and Clarabelle...with a digital arrow pointing at Reynn with words, " _ **Cream-Monster: Right here!**_ "

"Oh no! Your brother sent a photo of you to everyone in school!" Girl-Terra cried out.

"To every school on the Continent!" Elena cried out.

That's when Garnet realised the truth as did her friends, before she said, "Incorrect: Every school in the world! He just put them up on the World-Pen-Pal site!"

By this time, Reynn was seeing red as she growled deeply, "This. Means. War."

She wasn't going to allow Lann to have the pleasure of humilating her to the entire planet. NOT if she had anything to say about it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Minnie, who for a while couldn't get herself to go to the party, was knocking on her boyfriend's bedroom door, completely oblivious on what's going on.

"Mickey? Please open the door." Minnie called.

"Sorry, Minnie." Mickey called back from behind the door. "I'm uh...doin' my homework. Yeah! For, y-ya' know, ha-ha-hah...Science Project?"

Not buying this lie and finally having enough of this, Minnie called scoldingly, "Oh! Mickey Mouse, open this door right now!"

"Last name, huh?" Mickey muttered, before sighing in defeat, "I know that tone when I hear it."

Hearing the door unlocked, Minnie pushed it open and walked in, with a very nervous and slightly shaken Mickey standing in the middle. When he heard her approach, he looked up and seeing how trying to hide this fact from her wasn't going to work, he told her everything about the nightmares he'd been having a lot lately that was keeping him awake and very worried.

"...That's why I couldn't go to the party and I know I should've. But I tried everything I could think of to solve the problem with all of this." Mickey concluded as he and Minnie took a seat on the edge of his bed as he had explained.

"Oh, Mickey. Why did you let the others help?" Minnie asked, now worried for her boyfriend and, in truth, even she was scared of the nightmares he was having.

"It's Lann and Reynn's birthday and I didn't wanna ruin anything." Mickey answered.

"Well..." Minne began, before smiling as she grabbed Mickey's sleeping back and pulled him off the bed, leading him out of the door, "Why don't we go to the parties and you can forget about those bad dreams. I'm sure the guys will make you feel better."

Mickey was uncertain, pointing out as he was pulled along against his will, "But what if somethin' bad happens as soon as get there?"

"We're going and that's final!" Minnie said firmly.

"Okay, okay. I'm goin'." Mickey sighed, defeated once again. If there's one thing he knew that it was always a losing battle, it was having an argument and losing to said argument with girls, especially his girlfriend.

* * *

Back in Reynn's room, the girls were trying to crank up their brains to get their revenge on the boys.

"We could egg their tent." Daisy suggested.

"Nah, it's lame compared to what they did to us." Cissnei shook her head, only to be interrupted when someone knocked on the door.

The girls shared glances before heading towards it. Reynn looked through the peephole, demanding, "Who is it?"

"It's Minnie. Sorry I'm late." Minnie answered, before turning as she realised that Mickey was still behind here and looked uncertain. She signed before turning back to the door, adding, "With Mickey too. Is it okay that he can come in?"

Reynn looked at her friends who shook their heads firmly. She turned back to the door, saying, "Sorry Minnie, but we can't just Mickey. He's one of _them_."

"Huh?" Minnie asked, surprised, wondering why Reynn sounded really angry.

"Reynn, nothin's happened to me!" Mickey pointed out, "I'm not a monster or anythin'."

"No! A boy!" Reynn pointed out, angrily.

"Pretty please, with a cherry on top." Mickey pleaded.

After hesitating and deciding to interrogate Mickey, Reynn opened the door and pulled both him and Minnie into the door and closing it. Expecting to be relived, Mickey became even more nervous when the girls that were already in the room, except for Minnie who looked at them in huge confusion, angrily gathered around him.

"What? What?" Mickey asked, shrinking back a little and wondering what he had done wrong to make so many of these girls suddenly furious with him. Was it because he intruded on the party?

"Mickey Mouse! You swear on your life that the other boys didn't put you up to this." Daisy growled warningly while poking at Mickey's chest, glaring fire into his eyes and his soul that made him quiver in fear.

"Daisy!" Minnie scolded.

"I swear!" Mickey quickly answered. "I'm sorry that I crashed your party, but, see...I'm just not comfortable right now!"

Seeing that he was actually telling the truth, the rest of the girls cooled down as they realised that Mickey hadn't attended Lann's party either.

"Why aren't you in the tent with the guys?" Melody asked, confused.

"It's very complicated." Mickey replied, before realising, to his shock and stupidity, that staying in his room was a big mistake. "Now that ya' mention it, I should've been there. Just in case the nightmares come true."

"Huh?" Elena asked, puzzled, as she and the rest of the girls were sharing confused glances.

"See, I was tryin' to figure out the mystery of the monster with yellow eyes, but I've come up empty, and now I'm not sure when it'll attack. Not like with Chernabog which at least I had a warning." Mickey continued.

An awkward pause.

"Mickey, I think you're overreacting. Why didn't you just ask anyone else to help?" Reynn pointed out, skeptically.

"Yeah, I'll say." Selphie nodded in agreement. "You could've asked Genie since he's an expert on magic."

"Genie! I forgot he knows most legends." Mickey realised, before laughing awkwardly, "Ha-ha-ha. Aw, gosh. I was really silly. Except, I-I was kinda hopin' for the Sorcerer to help. Maybe the vampire movie got to me really bad like it did to Ven and most of the others. The only ones who weren't fazed were Lea and Isa."

The mention of vampires and seeing that Mickey wasn't in the cohorts with the other boys, an idea came into mind for Reynn. Smirking, she approached the only boy in the room, "Mickey, how would you like to pretend to be a Vampire tonight? To maybe scare Lea and Isa?"

Mickey and Minnie shared a confused look, before shrugging and the former began, hesitatingly, "Well, hmm..." and after a short thought, Mickey smiled and nodded, deciding that a little vampire prank wouldn't hurt, "Okay. Sure, why not."

"Girls, I think we have a perfect ally." Reynn declared with a smirk to her friends, before they explained to Mickey and Minnie briefly on what happened and then told them what the plan was.

Soon, they all set up into motion.

* * *

Unaware of what was happening outside the tent, the boys, thinking they got the girls good, were now sharing a ghost story telling.

"...And then, an old woman came, lurking around the corner." Lea continued, the flashlight underneath his face to make himself more scary.

The redhead then handed it to Zack who did the same and continued the story, "When she opened her eyes, all the kids could see, where empty eye-sockets! So the teenagers screamed and ran for their lives!"

Most of the guys shivered and looked pale as the very image of the story made them even more terrified. Even Lea, Reno, Isa and Rude looked steadily pale as they shared shocked expressions. Cloud looked even more pale, and Donald whimpered, biting his nails and both Genie and Mushu hid underneath the blanket of their sleeping bag. Ven and Lann gulped, and Iago rolled his eyes.

But when Zack gave the flashlight to Goofy, the latter continued the story the wrong way, "Uh, until they came across, um...ponies! Sweet, friendly, nice ponies, who were waiting for them to take them back to safety! Ay-yhuck!"

Everyone else all looked at him with shocked and dumbfounded expressions and raised eye-brows.

"Trust Goof-Brain to ruin the already pathetic story!" Iago groaned.

"Knock knock." A voice suddenly spoke from outside the tent, freaking out the guys who cringed back.

"AAAH!" Iago screamed hysterically, hiding behind Genie in fright, thinking it was a ghost or something.

To the boys' half relief, it was Mickey who was standing outside, while secretly, all of the girls were sneaking around the tent, while he told his friends in the tent to keep them busy, "It's me. Ha-ha! Mickey Mouse. May I come in?"

"Should we let him in?" Lann asked, nervously.

"No way!" Myde cried out, paranoid.

Ven rolled his eyes, "You guys are being ridiculous." and went to open the tent, only for Goofy and Zidane to force him down, opening it only a little bit, which allowed Mickey to poke his head in.

"What's the matter, fellas? You look like you've seen a ghost." Mickey asked, curiously as he noticed their pale expressions, except for Ven who had calmed down.

"They don't wanna let you in, incase you're suddenly a ghost or from the undead." Ven deadpanned.

"Nuh. I was just bein' silly. I've been so busy trying to figure out my nightmares I forgot to ask for some bit of help to solve that problem. But then I thought I'd try to forget about it and join you guys for the party." Mickey explained, which wasn't a total lie.

"See?" Ven smiled as he turned back to the others, "There's nothing to be scared of."

This was what Mickey needed, as he secretly grinned before quickly putting on the false cape and false vampire teeth and when he poked his head in head, he grinned evilly at the group who, shocked and horrifed at the sudden 'transformation', all screamed in horror. Mickey then ducked just in time for the girls to blow powder and Garnet let a captured Bat into the tent to let it fly in.

The results were a blast as the boys were screaming in terror and Genie accidently ripped the tent while trying to catch the 'Mickey-Bat', causing him and the others to tumble out onto the ground while the bat flew away to freedom. They then cried out again as Reynn turned on the sprinklers, causing the boys to get wet and all of the girls laughed up a storm. However, Lann, realising that this was a prank, quickly got revenge and took hold of the water hose and fired a jet of water at the girls who screamed ran out of the way to avoid in getting wet. But as he tried to follow their direction, to his shock and dismay, he accidently blasted and soaked Goofy who fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Mickey quickly turned off the sprinkers while gazing worriedly at his friends.

"Are you okay, Goofy?" Reynn asked worriedly as she and Lann pulled their goofy friend up.

"Sorry, dude. I was aiming at Reynn." Lann apologised.

Now glaring at her brother while letting go of Goofy's left arm, Reynn yelled, "Nice going, Lann!"

"You're the one who started it, Reynn!" Lann argued while dropping Goofy.

The twins then argued back and forth and by then, all of their friends all sighed and decided that they didn't want to hang around for the sleep over anymore and decided to head back to their own rooms to clean up and call it a night.

"Well, Bat-Mouse? Wanna head to bed?" Minnie giggled.

Mickey nodded, taking off the vampire costume, "Yeah. I kinda had a feeling the party wasn't gonna fun anyway."

By the time Reynn and Lann stopped arguing, they noticed, to their disappointment and realization in guilt, all of their friends had retreated to their own rooms. Realising that their constant argument had caused them to ruin their birthday, they decided to head to clean up themselves and entered their room where the birthday cake Genie made for Reynn rested in the Cafeteria they managed to sneak into.

"...Happy Birthday." Lann sighed.

"Same to you." Reynn replied.

"I just...wanted to say that I'm...sorry." Lann finally said. "Ever since I saw your Bra, I felt very awkward."

"So did I!" Reynn realised.

"I actually never thought I'd see something like that in my life and...I kinda didn't want to. It felt...like a complete jerk of me. I just don't get girls, you know." Lann continued.

"I don't get boys either. But you know what, maybe with both of us being different genders, that could be easier for both of us to understand our future once we graduate one day." Reynn said.

"You're right." Lann nodded, before sighing, exasperated, "Who knew growing up is a pain in the butt?"

"Tell me about it." Reynn sighed in equal exasperation.

Her brother gazed at her skeptically, "You? What the honk? Guys have it tougher than girls! You noticed how our voices change drastically and some of us who are unlucky have to shave."

Reynn rolled her eyes, "Oh please. Guys only shave their faces. Girls have to shave two whole legs and that's more painful than your face."

"Guess everyone has problems, no matter if you're a boy or a girl." Lann shook his head with a smirk.

"Yeah. Speaking of problems, with have a slight little problem tonight." Reynn poined out with a smirk.

"And, which is...?"

"How are we gonna eat the entire cake to ourselves?"

Realising that they had the cake to themselves, the twins laughed before deciding to dig in.

* * *

Ten minutes later, they regretted it, because now they had a stomach ache and were wondering towards Dr. Shalua's Dorm to see if she was still up at this time of night.

"I feel sick." Reynn moaned.

"Next time, we're sharing the cake." Lann moaned, before knocking on the door and opened it without waiting, asking to the doctor, "Dr. Shalua? Reynn and I ate too much..."

He froze, completely horrified as all thoughts of the stomach ache ceased and the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen stood right there.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Lann screamed before slamming the door shut, hearing Shalua gasp in horror as she had been busy getting into her nightgown...covering her upper-half with her dress.

Reynn saw what happened and thought with a sympathized expression, ' _Uh-oh. Here we go again._ '

"I'm blind!" Lann screamed, his eyes sight as his eyes were stinging at the horrible image, running blindingly, hysterically repeating, "I'M BLIND!" and he passed Timon and Pumbaa who were passing through and stopped when he saw a hysterical Lann running and screaming.

"Women scaring men. Oy!" Timon moaned as he realised what happened before face-palming himself.

While Lann was recovering from another sight of what he saw, things were calming down in Radiant Academy.

Even if Mickey and the others now had his nightmares to worry about, and little did they know, the threats of what yet to come may be closer than they knew. They were even unaware of another crisis happening in another dimension.

One that Mickey had briefly saw, as his other self and companions were facing a similiar problem in an familiar world themselves. But that dimension is told in another story.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: I actually had an original plan to make an episode based on the Aladdin episode "Power of the Parrot" but thought it was too early for that. So, I opted for this one instead, so the next episode will had the Aladdin content I had in mind. I hope it wasn't too bad. As I said in Episode 6 and Episode 7 of this story, this will be mentioned in "Kingdom Hearts III: Second War".**

 **Again, rest in peace David Ogden Stiers. See you guys in the next exciting episode!**


	16. Episode 16: Genie for A Day

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Welcome to Episode 16, which proudly presents another adventure of our Radiant Academy heroes!...Okay, that was admittedly cheesy. *Ahem* Let's continue onward, shall we?**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 16: Genie for A Day.

Almost every student was in the garage where they normally have Air-ship classes with Cid Highwind. But not today; today everyone in groups were building floats for the Parade for the Radiant City Fair. There were many different kinds; from Flowers to Swans, to Heroes of Hercules, ect. As for our heroes, Ven, Mickey, Terra, Aqua, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Iago, Mushu and Genie's float was a Pirate Ship with a robotic Pirate on a Peg-Leg and Eye-Patch, with a fake Parrot on his shoulder.

" _Arrr, me hearties! Prepare to make sail-_ BZZZT!" The Pirate Robot suddenly had a malfunction until it sparked and zapped before slumping dead, along with the rest of the ride. Ven coughed before sliding out from beneath the float since he was the one doing the rest of the fixing up, with failed results.

"J-*Cough*-Just a bit of a slip. Nothing too serious." He quickly told his friends.

Iago rolled his eyes, grumbling, "May I make a suggestion and just send this piece of junk to a real mechanic to get it moving with a theme that doesn't make you sea-sick? Or in this case, riding on the WRONG part of the world!?"

"Why can't we just use magic to fix it up and we're done?" Donald asked, getting really impatient and irritated. This was the fifth time this week their float broke down.

"Can't, and for two reasons." Terra told the two firmly, "One; every student does this sort of thing at every school. Kind of a practice to fix up their own cars in the future. And two; using magic for things like this for the Fair is cheating."

Mickey and the others nodded in agreement while he said, "Terra's right. Besides, we've all been through this before without magic with some minor problems, but they always turn out okay in the end. Why start now?"

"Cheating, schmeating! Genie always uses magic to solve problems back in Agrabah!" Iago pointed out.

"Not all the time! It was for the case of emergancy and you know it!" Genie retorted, glaring at the bird. "Besides, you always cheat at the Casinos back at Getzistan."

"It's not cheating! I once had a system!" Iago argued.

"Uh, you call putting slugs in slot machines a system?" Mushu asked sarcastically. He heard the stories from Genie from time to time about Iago's 'System'.

"I call that cheating." Lea muttered while folding his arms, staring at the parrot skeptically. "And how the heck can you put slugs in the machine slots anyway? That woulda just ruin the whole machine."

"Not to mention it would get the slots all clogged up with slug-slime." Isa noted in disgust. That disgusted the rest of the group too.

"Listen, punks! I-"

Whatever Iago was going to say was cut off when the entire building shook after a rumbling sound was heard. Everyone in the Academy and pretty much in Radiant City attempted to keep their balance as boxes were falling off other boxes.

"What's going on!?" Aqua cried out, alarmed.

"Uh...guys?" Lea spoke up as he, Isa and Goofy had raced to the opening while sliding open the metal doors, their eyes wide in shock and horror. "Ya might wanna take a look of this...!"

When Ven and the others hurried over, in the distance just outside of the City was...well, none of them were certain what they were seeing. It looked like a giagantic worm diving in and out of the ground, and it was approaching Radiant City from the looks of things.

"What is that thing!?" Ven cried out.

Genie, being the magical one of the group, magically wore safari clothes while pulling out a book, quickly reading, "It's either a very long-nosed Sapsucker, or Sluguthu, the giant scavenger worm." and to make sure, he pulled out a pair of binoculars and looks around, until he sees the worm, still heading towards them.

"It's the worm." He confirmed.

"He's heading straight towards us!" Goofy cried out, hysterically.

Iago groaned, saying sarcastically, "Oh, the joy of living in a world of modern people and mixed in enchantment. In some places they think cockroaches are a big problem!"

"We gotta stop it!" Mickey quickly told his friends, before whistling out, signaling Reddy to fly up to them. The group quickly boarded before taking flight to try and see how to stop this thing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Timon and Pumbaa were trying to climb up a tree to try and eat a beetle perched on the very top. Or, at least Timon was. When he made it to the top, the beetle's back was facing him and he knew this was the perfect chance to eat it.

"Hello, there. I'd like you to meet my two good friends." Timon greeted, before grinning as he brought out two shakers, adding, "Salt, and Pepper!"

Suddenly, the ground shook wildly which not only caughts citizens to panic, thinking it was an Earthquake, but it also made Timon lose his balance and fall down. But before he hit the ground, the giant Worm came out of the ground beneath Pumbaa while Timon landed on top of him.

"A GIANT WORM!" Pumbaa screamed hysterically, panicking.

Timon, thinking that it was a nightmare come true and all of the bugs had united to mutate and grow to get revenge on him and his best friend for being 'Insectivores', laughed sheepishedly and scaredly, "Uh, hehehehe...This isn't what it looks like...! I wasn't gonna eat your buddy or anything! Just, uh...just warning him about the incoming crows!"

The worm's response was flinging the duo up and caught them in it's mouth as they screamed. The two quickly clinged onto the worm's uvula for dear life to avoid in getting swallowed up, but they were shaking in fear and panicking.

"WAAAAAHHH!" Pumbaa wailed, letting loose waterworks of tears.

"AAAAHAHAHAHAAA!" Timon wailed, also letting loose waterworks, unaware that Pumbaa's tail was tickling the sides of the mouth.

Outside of the worm, Ven's group approached to see the Worm continuing the rampage, making Genie declare while turning into a superhero, "This looks like a job for Super Genie!" before yelling at the worm, "Eat blast beam vengeance, worm!"

But as he did, the Worm sneezed and spat out Timon and Pumbaa who both crashed into the ground, making a hole shaped like them, and as the Worm had sneezed, it unexpectedly ducked while Genie shot out a beam, missing it completely and shoots through a window of a store, reflecting off of a mirror before shooting right back out...towards the group who most of them flew up to dodge it. Except Iago who was accidently zapped he screamed, losing his feathers and causing him to fall onto the ground, right on top of Timon who was just pushing himself up.

"Oops." Genie muttered sheepishly, before glaring at his right hand that he used to zap, "Bad blast beam! Bad bad bad!"

The group flew down towards Iago, Timon and Pumbaa who all slowly pulled themselves out of the hole, panting in comical exhaustion. Mickey, who shuddered as he had seen that Timon and Pumbaa had been eaten by the giant Worm which made him shake off the terrible thought of it would've been him or his friends in that position.

"Are you fellas okay?" Mickey asked, worriedly.

Despite the group not speaking animal language and the only ones being able to understand are Genie, Iago and Mushu, Timon grumbled sarcastically, "Oh, yes. Terrific. Just had a nice little trip inside that giant worm's mouth in it's revenge at me and my buddy for eating almost every single bugs and grubs, worms and beetles for our entire lives!"

"Not sure what he said, but doesn't that worm seem like it's lookin' for somethin'?" Lea asked with a concerned and puzzled expression.

"Now that you mention it, it is a little strange for it to appear out of nowhere like that." Aqua agreed. "The question is, what is attracting the Worm here to Radiant City?"

The second she said this, all of the sudden, everyone all groaned in disgust when they picked up an awful smell of something very disgusting. Genie quickly tied his nose like a balloon to block the stench while Timon sniffed before his and even Pumbaa's eyes watered up at the oder.

"Pumbaa...!" Timon scowled.

"It's not me, Timon! It's coming from over there." Pumbaa pointed out, pointing at something to the right. Everyone, who not understanding animal language, looked to see what the warthog was pointing at; it was at truck full of craters with cheese labels on them.

"It's the Grocery Store's shipment of Cheese!" Ven realised.

"And a whole lotta kinds of them, from the smell of it...!" Lea added while waving his hand in front of his face to wave away the smell as much as he could.

"Scavenger worms love rotten food. The smellier the better." Genie explained as he realised that the cheese was the source of the Worm coming here to Radiant City, just as the ground shook again and the worm came busting out, knocking the vehicle over as well as the Cheese. It then wrapped itself around the building and began inhaling the cheese.

"Hey, I have an idea! We need to get rid of that Cheese!" Donald exclaimed, already speaking out a salution to the problem.

"With pleasure!" Genie saluted before zooming over to the Cheese crates that fell over, turns himself into a Catapault and flings the remainder of the cheese far away from the City. The Worrm, seeing this and only focusing on wanting the cheese, digs into the ground and slithers away to follow the cheese. Everyone sighed in relief.

"Man, I'm glad that's over." Mushu commented.

"So...is Radiant City safe?" Goofy asked.

"Until the next stock of Cheese, for now, yeah." Terra nodded.

Mickey, being a lover for cheese but even he had to admit the smell had been bad, sighed in disappointment but knowing it was for the best, "Guess no more Cheese, Ham, Tomato, Cheese, Ham, Tomato Sandwiches and Cheese for a while."

"Or Cheese-Burgers." Lea added.

* * *

After Genie fixed up the mess the giant Worm left behind, everyone returned to Radiant Academy when classes were done for today. The Headmasters, having heard what happened, praised Ven's group for helping to save Radiant City again, and were now in the Lounge to talk about this.

"When you said using magic for emergancy comes in handy, you weren't kiddin'." Lea sighed as he layed on the couch, his hands behind his head.

"Your very welcome!" Genie said, proudly.

"Hey, I'm the one who told you to get rid of the cheese." Donald pouted.

"But I did all the work!" Genie pointed out, glaring at the teenage duck who glared back.

"You didn't come up with the idea! I did! Anybody else would'a came up with it except you!"

Genie was now turning red in anger as he argued, "I suppose you could have done better!"

Donald crossed his arms, saying, "After what happened today, a Fly could do better!"

"Ho, you think so?"

"I know so!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Guys, knock it off!" Ven interrupted while he and Terra pushed Genie away from Donald who was pushed away by Mickey and Goofy.

Mickey tried to calm his friends as calmly as possible, "Come on, guys! There's no need to argue!"

But neither of the two listened, as Genie continued to Donald, "I'd like to see you try! In fact, I'm tempted to loan you my powers just to watch you make a fool of yourself!"

That caught everyone by surprise, except for Iago apparently, because he gulped nervously and muttered to himself worriedly, "Uh-oh. I just know there's gonna be a disaster right here and out."

"You can do that?" Lea asked, surprised. That was unheard of.

"Of course I can!" Genie said proudly.

Donald, deciding to take up the challenge, declared, "Okay, you're on! You give me your powers for one day, and I'll show you who's the champ and who's the chump!"

"Hold on a second." Lea spoke up before the deal was offical, and he asked while giving Genie a skeptical look, "Say you can do this, what's the catch?" as he knew, even for something like this, there had to be a catch. Nothing came for free without a catch.

"He must uphold the Code of the Genie!" Genie explained while magically materalizing a thick book and showed it to the group who read through it like a manual.

" _"The Code of Genie law is a Genie's life is to serve others."_ " Isa read.

Mushu then noticed something and added, "And no big treasures or self-indulgements allowed." pointing at the picture of treasure with a slash through it.

"Uh, just so you know, quacky, I'd back down now if I were you." Iago suggested while landing on Donald's shoulder.

To his dismay, and despite the disappointment of not being able to indulge himself, Donald declared stubbornly, deciding that it was just a minor inconvience, "For phenomenal cosmic power I'd uphold the Alps. Lay it on me!"

The next thing everyone knew, Donald was strapped to an operating table, while the others stood by the side, now very worried.

"Gawrsh...!" Goofy gulped.

"Uh...A-are you sure this is such a good idea?" Mickey asked, nervously.

Even Donald was very nervous, quivering in fear as he spoke up, "Uh, uh...Yeah! Is there a reconsideration?"

"Yeah, is surgery really necessary?" Lea inquired.

Genie appeared from the shadows as a mad scientist, speaking in a german accent as he grinned, "Do not fear. Zis is science!" before laughing maniacally and then shoved down a switch on the wall. The table is then shot up in the air with Donald screaming along the way and through the ceiling, with his friends down below winching that the hole would need to be fixed up later. Once the table stopped, Donald shivered as Genie appeared over him, in the form of Zeus who throws a lightning bolt at Donald who is zapped.

In a flash of light, the group shield their eyes before it faded. When they hesitatedly lowered their arms, their eyes widened as Donald was now on the floor on his front, knocked out cold with sourch marks surrounding him. Immediately the group hurried over, worriedly.

"Donald! Are you okay?" Mickey cried out, worriedly for his best friend.

"Say something! Anything!" Goofy cried out, beginning to sob pathetically.

Instantly, Donald's eyes then snapped open and were glowing in light, which freaked out the group as Mickey and Goofy backed away in fright.

"I feel great!" Donald exclaimed happily, while his bottom half suddenly turned into that of Genie's while he shoots up in the air and hovered above his friends while his eyes returned to normal. "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Everything in my body is filled with energy!"

"Uh...he's fine." Iago said, awkwardly.

"Nevermind him, it's Genie I'm worried about." Mushu pointed out as Genie had appeared, in normal human form but was still blue.

"Are you alright, Genie?" Aqua asked, worriedly.

"Just uh...normal, like a mortal." Genie shrugged. It felt very strange to not have the magical energy inside him. There was something familiar about this, but at the moment, he was too focused on feeling normal to even remember it straight away.

"The best part is; I can fly!" Donald happily continued, ranting on how he can fly...only to accidently crash into a wall and fall onto the ground into pieces before reforming himself and grumbled, "Oh, nuts."

"I'm...not so sure about this." Terra muttered, concerned. Everyone knew that poor Donald had the worst luck when it comes to karma, and now that he has genie powers, well, anything could happen.

"At least it's not illegal to fly when you're a genie, right?" Mickey shrugged, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, and you don't realize how much effort goes into flying until you don't have to flap anymore." Iago nodded in agreement.

"What're you talking about?" Isa asked, skeptically.

"Well, at least Donald knows the ground rules," Genie spoke up, "Let's see some politically correct magic!"

Donald flew up to the group, and said, "Okay! Stand back, I need a volunteer." before having an idea and turned to Mickey who flinched before gulping nervously.

"Uh...me?" Mickey asked, nervously.

"Yeah! I know just a thing." Donald declared, zapping magic at Mickey who shielded himself and expecting for the worst. When he realised that nothing happened but noticed a faint glow, Mickey slowly lowered his arms and realised that a pointy materal blue hat with star and Cresent Moon patterns on it floated in front of him. It looked just like Yen Sid's hat.

"Wow...!" Mickey muttered, before carefully holding it in his hands and then, deciding to try it out, placed it onto his head. Instantly, like Donald, he could feel magic surge inside his vains. "Hot dog! I just became a magican!"

"How do you know that for sure?" Aqua asked.

"Hmm...good question." Mickey thought, before having an idea and gazed at the nearby broom. Smiling, he made a motion to roll up his sleeves and twiggled his fingers and the next thing everyone knew, the broom came to life. Mickey even made a motion to have it grow a pair of arms.

"Now that's cool!" Lea admitted with a grin.

"That can't be legal!" Genie protested, only for Iago to look through the book.

"Check out Chapter 82; _"Fun with Fingers"_." The parrot pointed out. Everyone else looked and saw that he was right.

"I never saw Genie do that before." Ven commented.

"It's because I have more brains than he does." Donald pointed out, and as if to prove it, his head opened like a lid and his brain pops out of his head on a spring, which immediately grossed out everyone; especially Genie who was beginning to turn green.

"Did I do things like that when I had genie powers?" Genie asked, uneasily.

"Constantly." Isa, Mushu and Iago confirmed.

"Aw, jinkies! No wonder I can never get a date on New Year's Eve." Genie grumbled.

Mickey by then had magically had the enchanted broom dust off the shelves with a feather duster before he turned to his friends, saying, "Welp, at least some magic can be helpful. Thanks, Donald!"

"Aw, it was no trouble." Donald replied, bashfully.

"Gee, fellas. Are you sure it's a good idea to use magic like this?" Goofy asked, uncertain.

"There's a good lesson here, and it's obvious that I'm the true Genie!" Genie nodded in agreement.

Donald rolled his eyes, "Just you watch! I can out-Genie you better than building a Snake Trap! I'll be right back!" and before anyone could stop him, he disappeared in a poof of pink dust.

"Why am I getting feeling about this?" Lea asked, a bit worriedly.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Radiant Forest, Timon and Pumbaa were hiding and sneaking behind trees, looking out for any signs of danger. Like say, a giant worm that might eat them.

"Timon, I'm really hungry, but I don't think we should go and eat bugs anymore." Pumbaa muttered, worriedly.

Despite the trauma from earlier, Timon rolled his eyes, saying, "C'mon, Pumbaa. You heard that blue Genie guy! It was after the rotten cheese despite having an appitate for everything else too. Besides, it's not like we're anywhere near a buffet full of bugs, waiting for us to walk up and eat them."

The two are suddenly scared out of their wits when Donald suddenly appeared via smoke, and he asked kindly to the two of them now that, having genie powers, he can understand what they are saying, "Did I hear you say a Bug Buffet?" and despite that idea being disgusting, he decided to give them what they wanted. "Not to worry, fellas! Your wish is my command!"

He then zoomed forward while the two companions shrug at one another. The next thing they knew, Donald zoomed around and around in high speed in a clearing of the forest until a huge outdoor resturant appeared, filled with, to Timon's stunned delight, different kinds of bug menus.

"Ta-da!" Donald called, gesturing at the newly made resturant to the two animals, "Go ahead and dig in! All you can eat! Right here!"

"Pumbaa...he just made our own resturant!" Timon gapped, already using a bowl and scooped up a spoonful of bug-salads while he went through the list, "Potato-Bug Salad, Beetle-Soup, Cater-Geti! This is wonderful!" before gasping happily as he saw a mush of apins before diving into it and instantly gobbled it all in one sitting.

Happy to have made Timon happy, Donald then said while turning himself into an air-plane, "Well, love to stay, but I got other people waiting for me! See you later!" and then flew up, with Pumbaa watching him go, uncertainly.

"I'm...not so sure about this." Pumbaa muttered to himself. Something about this was just too good to be true. He then looked behind him and saw that Timon, having put on a napkin around his neck, hungrily scoffed through three bowls of bugs one by one via lever and slide-contrapment so quickly that the food was gone in seconds.

When he finished the one, he chewed before noticing Pumbaa's disapproved expression. Seeing that something was up, Timon swallowed before politely wiping his mouth with another napkin...and then...He belched loudly.

"So, what's the matter?" He asked while throwing away the napkin that was around his neck and approached Pumbaa who still felt uneasy.

"It's just...that kid wasn't always like this. Don't you think it's...a little conveniant for him to use magic?" Pumbaa asked.

"A _little_ conveniant? Pumbaa, it's incredibly conveniant!" Timon pointed out, "No more starving in winter! Best part is, that kid heard our call while that blue guy never did!" before grabbing a Praying Mantis Sandwich and ate it.

Pumbaa shook his head, still uncertain, "I don't know, Timon. Ever since Radiant City was attacked by that giant monster, things haven't been normal most of the time lately. I mean, is it normal for us to get involved with humans and others for a few weird adventures, with giants trying to eat us? Or am I crazy?"

"Pumbaa, Pumbaa, Pumbaa." Timon said ensuringly, "We, are in a modern land. And that kid is the future of everything. He'll give generousity to everyone in need with open arms."

Still, Pumbaa wasn't certain, and he certainly wasn't the only one worried.

* * *

Things were turning fairly well for Donald through out the rest of the day. He helped fix up the ceiling Genie made, helped fix up a stand that got ruined, and even gave money to those who couldn't afford to fix up their car. Mickey in the meantime had the enchanted broom clean up the dorms of the Academy while he and the others the next day returned to fixing up their float _without_ magic, while Donald was still out there doing what he thought was a good deed.

" _Arr! Prepare to meet your makers, and heave-ho to-*Belch*_ " The Pirate robot broke down again as it belched, much to the disappointment of Mickey, Ven, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Mushu and Iago.

"There he goes." Lea sighed, disheartedly.

"Like I said yesterday; get a professional to fix this up!" Iago said in annoyance, before adding as he flew up behind the robot, "Or, better yet, give it a smack on the head!" while demostrating it.

This only made the robot move and walk around on the float all by itself, saying, " _Arr! Prepare to make dock!_ " and chased after Iago who screamed while flying out of the way to avoid it.

"Ven, hurry!" Aqua cried out.

"I'm trying!" Ven called while he fiddled with the bits and pieces with a wrench.

Mushu then had an idea and picked up an empty Soda can before tossing it at the robot's face. To his and the others' surprise, the robot stopped all together.

"Hey, it worked." The small dragon muttered, surprised. "How did that happen?

"Uh...fellas?" Mickey spoke up with a knowing smile, and when the group turned to see where he was, it was revealed that it wasn't Mushu who stopped the robot. Mickey simply went over to the wall and pulled the plug out to turn the robot's power off.

"Sheesh! Even Genie wouldn't come up with something as simple as that." Iago sighed in relief, leaning against the railing of the float, while Ven rolled out and stood up, sighing.

"Gee, for things like this, ya' don't need magic. I can not make any mistakes without magic too." Goofy shrugged, only to accidently step onto the board with wheels, and slipped before landing on top of it and controllably went for a ride towards the float Zack, Cloud, Reno, Rude, Tifa, and Selphie were working on, Goofy screaming, "YAA-HOO-HOO-HOOEEE!"

 _ **CRASH!**_

He crashed into the tool box which most tools flew all over the place after being hit like bowling pins. Everyone else winched at the sight before sighing. Goofy stood up and apologised to Zack's group sheepishly, "Sorry 'bout that."

"Hey, where's Genie?" Terra spoke up after an awkward moment of silence. It was by now that everyone noticed that their former magical friend was absent as well as Donald.

"Oh, I think he's in the boys' room moping." Isa muttered, "Couldn't talk him into coming out."

"I think he's stumped since Donald can do a little bit better than him. Feel sorry for 'im, though." Lea shrugged, worriedly.

"Poor Genie. I wish there was something we could do." Aqua muttered.

Mickey thought of something and felt that, while using magic was a bit of fun, he had been careful with his new magical powers since Donald gave him that Sorcerer Hat. Still, it wasn't the same as having Genie use magic. He then nodded to himself, knowing what he had to do.

* * *

Meanwhile, Donald was with a man who had a fancy red Ferrari whose battery is dead flat.

"I need to get to the station to find a power-cord since it's an electricy car!" The driver was complaining.

"I got a better idea. We can use this!" Donald said, magically materalizing a powerboard and super-charged battery while turning himself into the form of Zeus, using a lightning bolt onto it, plugging the car's cord in. It charged perfectly all the way up to full...

Unfortunately, the driver had been so distracted that the car was out of energy that he forgot to put the brakes on. Since it was still onto Driving mode, the next thing he and Donald knew, the Car drove itself away, with Donald still holding the cord, and he was dragged along while he yelped in alarm.

"My car!" The driver cried out, before realising too late and groaned, "Oooh! I forgot to put the brakes on!"

"WAAAAHHH!" Donald screamed, hanging on for dear life while back in his current-normal-genie-form. "Hey! Stop, you stupid car!" He shouted, before having an idea and turned into a heavy crane to stop it from driving off. Unfortunately, the car was so powerful that it still dragged him along. "Crazy car!"

The Car and Donald drove by a dumpster truck, knocking if over and filling out the smelly garbage which included food that gotten rotten and thrown away all on the road. The stench wafted into the air and into the fields outside where the giant Worm from yesterday, lingering around for smelly food, sniffed when it got the scent of sweet, rotten food.

By then, Donald was now clinging on and no matter what he did, nothing seemed to be stopping this Car as it now drove into a construction side and roadworks, slamming into billboard signs which at first made sense, but the rest were a little bit ridiculous.

And this is what each Sign said.

 **Stop!**

 **Danger!**

 **Turn Back!**

 **Roadwork in Progress.**

 **Hey!**

 **These!**

 **Signs!**

 **Are!**

 **Expensive!**

 **So!**

 **Stop!**

 **Running!**

 **Into!**

 **THEM!**

But the Car ignored them and Donald winched apologetically, "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! SORRY!" before gulping when he realised that the bridge they were on was broken and in progress of being fixed...because the ending had a river beneath them. "Uhhhh, oooooh." He muttered, worriedly.

Thinking quickly, and, in retrospect, this wasn't such a good idea, Donald quickly turned himself into a Beluga Whale in hopes to save himself and the car. The two were plummeting down into the river with a huge SPLASH! Though this was left with two problems; one, the Car would've saved itself because it turned into a submarine and then a speed-boat which continued on, still carrying Donald. Two, the splash was so large that water went flying all over the place...right to flooding Radiant City as residents ran away screaming and reached for higher floors or ground as the water was quickly up to their knees.

Turning back to normal, Donald screamed as his eyes bulged out in horror due to the Car about to run into the rock wall of another cliff. Somehow though, this problem was solved becase the Car then turned itself into a flying Jet and zoomed up to safety, avoiding it. The same couldn't be said for Donald, because he crashed right into the wall half-way, his bottom half sticking out and finally being forced to let go of the cord while the Car then returned to the road and then drove off after it returned to it's normal state.

Doanld by then, with some struggle, turned himself back to normal to pull himself out and landed onto the wet patchy ground where the water used to be. Suddenly realising why he wasn't in the water, Donald quickly flew up and his eyes widened as Radiant City was now underwater...and on top of everything else, the Worm from yesterday came bursting out from one of the buildings, destroying it.

"Uhh...Uhh...Don't worry! I can handle it!" Donald called out, zooming hurriedly towards it in hopes to save Radiant City. He quickly magically created a steel beam to hold the Worm's mouth open. "Ha! Fight that!"

To his shock and dismay, Sluguthu bends the beam in half with his jaws and swallows it before snapping at Donald who dodged it. "Uh...I was just kiddin'."

Sluguthu's response was continously try and eat him and Donald then flew higher, before coming up with another idea, "Okay, then! Time for Super Genie!" before pausing and then corrected himself, "Make that Mighty Donald!"

He turns himself into a super-Hero, completed with a mask and a symbol on his chest that had the letter D of his name on it. Donald then punched and whacked the giant worm who just brushed it off like it was nothing. Now Donald was beginning to really panic.

"Or maybe not." He muttered, worriedly.

Watching this from below near Radiant Forest was Pumbaa who was watching what was happening, and with a terrified and panicked expression, he turned to break the fourth wall as he exclaimed, "I gotta warn Timon!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Radiant Forest, Timon had eaten pretty much everything in the mini resturant Donald had magically created, and was now so fat that he was lying on the ground. A small fly landed on his belly to have some dead bug juice, only to be squashed and then eaten by Timon who didn't regret having eaten so much in two days.

"Yeesh! Wonder what's taking that kid so long to make more resturants with meesly ants?" He asked himself, before jokingly thought, "Must be getting the uncles too." and laughed at the joke.

He expected Pumbaa to say something, only realise that his best friend was missing. Timon then shifted to lie on his stomach and muttered, "Perfect for talking, and no one around to hear me." only to be spun when Pumbaa zoomed past him in a hurry. After stopping, Timon called out, smiling, "Pumbaa! Baby! Where have you been?"

Pumbaa, turning back, hurried over and tightly hugged his best friend, hysterically crying with waterworks flying freely from his eyes, "It's back and it's coming to eat us!"

"Who?" Timon asked, alarmed.

"THE WORM!" Pumbaa screamed.

A pause.

"Pumbaa, I think you're overreacting." Timon shook his head while freeing himself.

"I'm serious! That kid who turned into a Genie, first he accidently flooded the Town and then the Worm appeared and he's having trouble fighting it!" Pumbaa continued.

"Trouble fighting it?" Timon asked, with an expression that screamed, ' _Uh-oh_ '.

Just then, they heard Donald screaming and when the two friends turned to look, they saw him flying away in a hurry, leaving a trail of smoke behind. When Timon and Pumbaa looked, to their horror, Sluguthu was coming straight towards them, charging away for an easy meal as well as more rotten food.

" _AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!_ " Timon and Pumbaa both screamed before running away to avoid in getting eaten, and as they two run, surprisingly, Timon lost so much weight quickly that his body returned to normal. How, I have no idea.

That's when Donald decided there was only one last thing to do.

* * *

It took Mickey effort to reach the Boys room, especially since he discovered that the enchanted broom didn't stop cleaning and he had to try and restrain it from making a mess that would land him in trouble. But eventually he found his way to it and found Genie, sitting on the floor, moping, gazing through a Photo album.

"There ya' are!" Mickey sighed in relief. He approached his gloomy friend, and asked, "Are you okay, Genie? Everybody's worried about ya'."

"Oh, I'm fine. Just missing in being a genie." Genie sighed, "Oh, those were the days. Donald's given the city everything! I guess he is a better genie than I was."

"Aw...I wish I could help." Mickey replied, feeling sorry for his friend.

Genie didn't seem to listen, as he continued, "Maybe he should... keep my powers. Oh, where's the power to turn into a cockroach when you need it? I'll never be a French chef again. I'll never be a french fry again!"

Mickey was about to say something when he felt something wet on the floor...and it was reaching up to his ankles. Concerned, he looked down and gasped when he realised the floor was flooding somehow.

"Uh...Genie?" Mickey muttered, worriedly.

He was then startled when Donald suddenly appeared via magic, and from the looks of things, his best friend-turned-genie was panting.

"Donald! What happened?" Mickey asked, concerned. If anything, with the sudden flood happening at the school, and, fearing for the city, the town itself, it had something to do with Donald who probably made a mistake.

"Don't ask or listen." Genie gloomingly said, "He's proven his point." before saying to Donald, "Keep the powers, but I refuse to listen to your gloating." before plugging his ears.

"Genie! I don't want your powers! Everything I did was a disaster!" Donald cried out, hysterically, and was very annoyed and panicky as Genie was chanting repeatedly, "I'm not listening." before the former yelled in irritation before unplugging his friend's ears, "WILL YOU STOP IT!?"

Mickey by then went over to the nearest window above and he gasped in horror as Sluguthu was coming closer and closer from a good distance away. Worse, it was chasing after Timon and Pumbaa who by now leaped sideways to avoid in getting eaten, but if something wasn't done soon, not only would Radiant Academy be destroyed, but if he, Donald and Genie didn't move now, they and quite possibly other people in the schoold would get eaten.

"Oh, were you talking to me?" Genie asked, sarcastically.

"I'm tryin' to tell ya—" Donald began.

"Sluguthu is comin' this way!" Mickey screamed out, panicking.

"I KNOW!" Donald shouted, before turning back to Genie, hysterically begging, "You gotta show me how to give your powers back before we all end up in that over-grown slug's stomach!"

That really caught Genie by surprise, and he asked, with hope forming, "You really mean it!? You don't want to be a genie!?"

"Yes!" Donald cried out, "Whadda need!? Lab tables, some lightning..."

"We're runnin' out of time, fellas...!" Mickey panicked as he turned back to the window.

Genie shrugged, "Oh, that was just for show. Here, pull my finger." before holding out a hand to Donald who looked disgusted.

"You're not serious."

"Go ahead."

"This is exasperating." Donald grumbled, but did as he was told and pulled Genie's finger, and was instantly electrocuted which filled the room and Mickey had to duck in order to avoid in getting zapped. Thankfully, the light of the electricity forced Sluguthu to stop, but it had also shot Donald, Mickey and Genie out of the Boys' Room where they landed into the hurried crowd of Ven, Goofy, Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Iago and Mushu who were all crashed into the flooded hallway.

Most of them sat up, coughing up water that got into their mouths and groaned.

"Donald?" Lea asked, puzzled and surprised to find that Donald, who had also sat up, was suddenly back to his normal self, no longer a genie.

Genie in the meantime, while accidently startling the group, bursted out of the water, now back into his true genie form as the magic swap from yesterday as been reversed.

"Yes!" Genei cheered happily, and instantly turned into anything he thought off after 24 hours of being normal: He turned into a penguin, Carmen Miranda, a pirate, a space shuttle, a big game hunter, and then back to his normal self, before asking Donald and Mickey, "Now uh, what seems to be the problem?"

"Uh, the fact that Sluguthu is comin' towards us?" Mickey asked.

"What!?" The rest of the group, except for Donald who was still coughing, exclaimed in shock.

"That Slug's back!?" Mushu exclaimed hysterically.

"Oh. Mr. Esophagus." Genie remembered, before disappearing and then reappeared outside before giving into the water and magically pulled a giant bath plug out of the water which began to drain away, before mumbling to himself worriedly, "Oh, I do hope this doesn't leave a nasty ring around the city."

Thankfully, the giant Worm was sucked into the hole along with the water, and both vanished instantly, saving Radiant City from being flooded. Everyone sighed in great relief.

"Phew! Safe at last." Donald sighed in relief.

"Donald, what happened?" Mickey asked, worriedly.

Suddenly remembering that the entire mess was his fault and with his friends giving him disapproving glares, Donald chuckled nervously, "Uhhhh...it's a long story."

He knew for certain, though, he was in trouble.

* * *

Days later, after Genie fixed everything up with his magic and even restored the river, everyone continued on with the Fair arragements and finally Ven's group's float was completed and fixed-without magic-and joined in on the Parade, dressed up as pirates to match the theme. Everyone else dressed up differently to match their own floats.

"I gotta hand it to ya's. This float is a definite winner." Iago admitted while perched on Terra's shoulder.

Mickey, who had the enchanted brooms un-enchanted, smiled, "Yep. Though, I wish I kept the magic hat." He admitted, since Genie made it disappear and despite that he was disappointed for losing the hat, he agreed that it was best that he didn't have that sort of thing. He certainly didn't want to make the mistake of flooding buildings or the entire city.

"It's too bad Donald's missing out on this." Ven stated.

"Well, he did have it coming." Isa pointed out.

Lea chuckled as he and the others waved at the crowds watching them pass in the Parade, "At least he's a fun attraction for this year."

* * *

Somewhere else at the Fair, Donald, in his swimming trunks, was in a dunking booth, looking miserble, especially since he knew this was his punishment for making such a mess with the flooding and unable to stop Sluguthu.

"Why did I ever ask to be a Genie in the first pla-WAGH!" He was cut off from his thoughts as he yelped due to falling into the water...for the sixth time today.

Genie in the meantime, being the announcer, was calling out to the cosumters lined up, "Step right up and dunk the duck! Three balls for a dollar! Right here! Dollar talks and nobody walks! Step riiiiight up!"

The line itself was so long that most entendees came here just to play this came, as far as the eye could see. Timon and Pumbaa were both in the middle of the line, edging closer to have their own, and their own little revenge on Donald for nearly getting them killed days before. Looks like things were getting a bit more interesting for everyone in Radiant City.

* * *

But back with the Sorceress in her fortress, she'd been watching the events that was happening as she was the one who had sent the Sluguthu. When she'd seen Genie give his powers to Donald, she thought things would go well since it would be destruction.

But when that teenaged duck didn't want the magic anymore and that teenaged mouse had warned them, she wasn't happy that things had quickly returned to normal and the giant Worm was now gone; having drowned.

So there she was, watching Genie at the dunking booth, and she growled angrily.

"Oh, I hate that Genie!" She hissed, before using her magic to destroy the magical orb, unable to stand the sight of him or the students he was friends with. She gripped her staff tightly as she muttered, "He, his new master and those other brats haven't seen the last of me!"

She then smirked evilly to herself, saying, "No matter. I am very close to reviving my dear brother, and once he is returned, we will rule the world, or my name isn't Nasira; Queen of the Planet."

The Sorceress, Nasira, then thought as she then thought of the children, chuckling, "Perhaps a hostage situation, could be needed, as leverage." before cackling evilly to herself.

Yes, her plan is about to be put into motion and this means, more dangerous towards Ven and his friends may not be that that far behind.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that this is late. Had trouble in writing this chapter. Hope it's okay. See you in the next episode as soon as I'm able!**


	17. Episode 17: Mission Ink-Possible

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Sorry for not having updated this story for a while. As usual writer's block hit and I'm struggling how the last six chapters/episodes of season 3 would turn out.**

 **Anywho, a new episode is finally here!**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 17: Mission Ink-Possible.

 _Mickey ran from the very same monster that's been haunting his nightmares for nearly a month now, and this time the scenary changed. He was in some kind of scary graveyard of skeletions. Looking back once, he gasped before urging himself to go faster, as the massive black thing with sharp black teeth and claws, the perching yellow eyes, was slowly catching up to him. But he was then led to a dead end, which was a rock wall._

 _He was trapped._

 _Turning around and backing up in fear until his back touched the wall, Mickey quivered as the monster by now loomed over him. Then, the mysterious woman from his earlier dream, along with the mysterious evil Sorcerer appeared, which the man was still too shadowy for Mickey to see properly._

 _"W-Who are you?" Mickey asked, terrified out of his mind, yet he tried to act brave. "W-what d-do you w-want with m-me?"_

 _Instead of answering, the woman then just snapped her fingers and the monster reached out to grasp the teenaged mouse who quickly tried to shield and brace himself as he felt the pressure of being grabbed. He struggled and squirmed to try and free himself, only to scream when the monster then simply dropped him into it's mouth._

 _Panicking and terrified out of his mind, Mickey then turned back and banged on the teeth of the mouth he was trapped in as he could hear the evil laughter of the the two people outside, and for some strange reason, ink oozed from the ceiling._

 _"Let me out! Let me out!" Mickey screamed..._

* * *

"...Let me out! Let me...!" Mickey whimpered, punching onto his mattress and pillow, before opening his eyes and sat up from his current lying on his front position, a bit disorientated as he looked around. Once he cleared himself from his confusion, he sighed in relief as he realised that it was just another nightmare.

But then he realised, to his horror, that the dream advanced again. The mysterious evil people, the ink inside...that thing's mouth. Mickey shuddered at the memory of being inside that monster's mouth. That was one of his greatest fears.

Which meant that danger was coming closer. What it was, Mickey had no idea.

One thing was clear, though. He had to figure it out. Now.

* * *

No sooner the first class for the day ended, Mickey immediately went to the School's library and searched through almost every history mythical book to help him solve the crisis of his nightmares, given his experience that one of his dreams the last time this sort of thing happened had him meet Arbutus.

"Nope. Not this one either." Mickey sighed, closing the book and tossing it carelessly behind him for the hundredth time in half an hour and continued his search.

Fortunately, he wasn't looking alone. Ven, Lea, Isa, Genie, Donald, Goofy, Iago and Mushu were helping him with the search. The others had been busy but they did promise to help at least by the end of the day after school was out.

"So, uh...did that thing really eat you this time, Mick'?" Mushu asked, after dodging another book that nearly hit him.

Mickey paused in his work, and gulped nervously, before answering, somewhat shakily, "W-well, he did gobble me up, but at least I managed to wake up before he could-could swallow me whole." and shuddered before continuing the search. In truth, he could've sworn he actually felt the entire thing being real.

"But that still scares the heck outta ya', though. Right?" Lea inquired, looking a bit spooked himself. "If I had that nightmare, I'd probably be screamin' and kickin' awake too."

"Gimme a break. You guys don't know what it's actually like to be inside a mouth!" Iago rolled his eyes. "You know how many times I was inside a mouth and came close in being swallowed up while nearly being eaten? First was Jasmine's pet Tiger when the monkey wanted to kill me, then was the time when Nefir freed that giant moth that evolved from a giant golden-silk worm the imps imprisoned, and let's not forget that baby-sitting disaster the other day when that little giant brat thought I was candy!"

"The tiger and that kid, I can believe. But a giant moth that used to be a giant silk-worm imprisoned by imps? Give me a break." Isa scoffed.

"Actually, that happened. The imps in the time of Arabian Nights were big trouble-makers and con artists. Especially Nefir. As for the Worm, it's golden silk could cure any illness, but their metamorphosed forms, Mothias, were the destroyers of cities, bringer of plague and pestilence. They roamed the earth hunting imps, considering them a delicacy." Genie explained, and the more he did, the more Mickey shuddered and even gulped scaredly again when he heard the 'delicacy' part.

"So how come it didn't completely eat Iago?" Ven asked, confused, yet freaked out himself about Mothias.

"He probably didn't taste good." Lea shrugged.

"That, and the other fact is that those giant moths were on a Imp-diet. When that one swallowed me, I think I made it sick." Iago shrugged.

"I'm glad it was him and not the rest of us." Mushu mumured to Donald who snickered, trying not to laugh.

The parrot glared at the dragon, "I heard that!"

"Gawrsh, I wonder why Mickey's having these nightmares and who that big scary monster and two other mean people are." Goofy thought, while looking through a book before realising, "When did we have a book that was in gibberish?"

"Give me that!" Donald snatched the book from his friend and looked through it for a second, before groaning in annoyance and turned it around before shoving it back to Goofy, pointing out, "You had it upside down, you big palooka!"

Realising that Donald was right, Goofy chuckled sheepishly, "Oh. Ay-yhuck! Sorry."

"Mick', hate to bring it up to ya', but I don't think we're gonna have much luck here on finding anything related to a 'giant-ink-monster'." Lea sighed, after tossing another book completely unrelated to the situation aside.

"Maybe we should find out about those two people instead. I mean, you haven't told us much on what they looked like." Ven agreed, placing a book onto the table.

As much as he hated to admit it, Mickey knew that his friends were right. Plus, now that he thought of it, maybe the monster was something created by the evil woman and evil sorcerer.

"I guess you're right." Mickey sighed, shrugging as he turned to face the others, "The problem is, I don't have any clue on who the Sorcerer is. I mean, I kinda get the image of the lady; I think she's tall, thin, and had black hair or somethin'. But her staff is always striking."

"Like what?" Mushu asked.

"Like...it was a Snake Staff."

While Ven, Lea, Isa, Mushu, Donald and Goofy shared serious but confused glances, Genie and Iago both gasped as they shared a shocked and now concerned glance, which got everyone else's attentions.

"Uh...that's not what I think it is, is it?" Iago asked, nervously all of the sudden.

"The only people who would hold a snake staff or two would be the most foremost and evilist twins in history." Genie said dramatically, before adding casually as he jerked a thumb at the parrot, "One of them Iago used to work for."

"Who? That Jafar guy?" Lea asked, skeptically. "I thought he was dead."

"He is, but his sister, Nasira, wasn't by the time I kicked Jafar's lamp into that molt of lava." Iago pointed out, shuddering.

"Jafar had a sister?" Ven asked, shocked along with everyone else.

"I didn't know Jafar had a sister." Mickey thought, stunned and now worried. "Um, was she just as bad as her brother?"

Iago rolled his eyes before explaining, "Well, for one thing, she's twice is nasty and mean and powerful than Jafar was. Unlike him, she was born with her powers, but even she's not invicible. She certainly didn't have the full power to bring him back from the dead unless she had items to do so. Long story short, she wanted revenge on Al' and take over the world."

"Not just Agrabah?" Isa asked, blinking.

"But I don't get it." Mickey thought worriedly and deepily. "That was a long time ago, right? Nasira shouldn't be alive now...Unless she found a way to stay alive or somethin'."

A dreaded silence of worry and now growing fear filled the air.

"Oh, man." Lea groaned, "If she is still alive and she's plottin' somethin' we don't know about yet, except maybe what Mick' saw in his nightmares, we're so screwed."

"But the problem is, how can we know if we don't even know where she is, if she is still alive?" Genie shrugged, before admitting, "Come to think of it, she disappeared after Al' defeat Jafar for the third time. No one's seen Nasira since then."

"Third time? In case you forgot, _I_ was the one who defeated Jafar the second time around. Al' was about a minute or less close in being turned into a roasted-street-rat if it weren't for me!" Iago pointed out in annoyance.

"Hmmm..." Ven thought deepily. Magic, Sorcerers and Sorceresses...Those made him think of someone else who was at least on their side. "I think, what we need is a little bit of help. We need to ask someone who is natural in that sort of thing."

"But Yen Sid could be anywhere too. How're we gonna find him?" Goofy pointed out, worriedly.

That's when an invisible light-bulb lit up above Mickey's head as he remembered something, or rather, someone else who could possibly help them.

"Wait. I know just a Tarutaru who can help."

* * *

A day later, Mickey and the group, joined by Aqua, Terra, Melody, Minnie and Daisy, ventured off to Twilight City where they knew their newest friend would be due to her travelling the world. Right now they were speaking to Shantotto just outside of the city as she was leaving to head over to Wutai as her next destination.

Though what the group told her made her decide to quickly delay it.

"Nasira, you say? And what makes you think she lives to this day?" Shantotto inquired, almost in amusement.

"Well, for one thing, we kinda have a hunch that, unless she has a relative or descendent or whatever, she might have somethin' to do with Mickey's nightmares of a giant-ink monster or whatever it is." Lea shrugged.

"Hmmmm..." The Tarutaru thought deepily, considering the words of the teenagers. "A sorceress thought to be dead, to bring about a monsterous inkling...if true, then this could be a dangrous threat, with a dangerous plot she is thinking."

A bit of an awkward pause.

"Um, could you be a bit more clear on that?" Mickey asked, requestingly.

"What she's saying is that if Nasira's still alive and she's planning on creating a giant monster out of ink, it'll be very dangerous." Isa rolled his eyes.

"Then that means the world will be in danger again." Aqua realised, worriedly.

"Yet, for the creature as that to be in Nasira's existance and obedience, she would first need the rather unexpected ingredients." Shantotto continued.

"Why not just do what she did the last time she caused trouble? Like, oh, I don't know, find a way to bring back Jafar!?" Iago nearly shouted.

"Maybe she wants to make sure no one can stop her or Jafar this time?" Melody suggested worriedly.

"Um...hey, do you think she might even know what we're doin'?" Lea thought, worriedly, now that the thought entered his head. "I mean, Hades certainly knew almost right from the start, right? And so did Yen Sid."

"Well, standing here isn't going to solve anything!" Daisy pointed out.

"Yeah, what we need is to catch her or whoever's doing this off-guard somehow." Mushu agreed.

"Anything can happen, but not all is lost. Taking action is what needs to be done, at any cost." Shantotto agreed.

"So, what can we do?" Terra inquired.

Shantotto smirked, "Simple, my dear. The answer is near. I prefer taking the easiest route to our goal; I won't waste time on pointless rigamarole."

"Well then, let's get this over with. The sooner we figure out how to solve this problem before it springs up on us again, the better." Lea shrugged.

"Exactly, young man. At least you agree with the plan." Shantotto praised.

"Well, I am trainin' to become a Turk." Lea smirked.

"Oh! That reminds me." Mickey remembered, "A couple of weeks ago, in one of the nightmares related to that, I saw a mirror that had all of us in it...except that, well, not sure why, but I think I also saw a different dimension with us in it. You, me, Iago, Genie, Ven, Terra, Aqua, Donald, and Goofy looked the same, but Lea and Isa and little kids we know back at the Academy were grown up, and I know I heard my reflection or my other self mention about seeing a different universe."

"Other selves of us exist? What a twist." Shantotto thought. "Fret not, young one. An alternate realm has it's own problems to be done. Only by those who are like us, possibly leaving even you to a nonplus."

"I guess you're right." Mickey rubbed the back of head. Plus, as she said, even that wasn't worth in looking into. Right now, they had the ink-monster and the sorceress to worry about.

"So, what do we need to do?" Ven asked.

"To find a powers or perhaps a clue. With nightmares progressing, the arrival of unexpected events is due." Shantotto replied.

As they made their way to Reddy, Iago couldn't help but grumble as he whispered to Mushu, "Doesn't she ever get tired of saying everything in a rhyme?"

"Maybe she was brought up to it so much it's become a habit by now." Mushu whispered back.

"Listen up, pups." Shantotto grunted as she suddenly appeared in front of the two of them who leaned back a little in fright, as she held out her staff threateningly. "Are your ears garnish, or full of varnish?"

"Uhh...Sorry about that." Mushu muttered, scaredly.

"Oh, c'mon. We were only just kiddin'." Iago laughed nervously.

"Let's go before you two cause trouble!" Aqua grunted in annoyace as she and Minnie grabbed both Iago and Mushu with irritated glares.

* * *

The group had arrived in an unusual Temple which was not too far from Gongaga, Zack's hometown, and quite near the dig site. Shantotto led the group from Radiant Academy until she had them stop in front of two doorways in the dark.

"Here is what we will do. Search these tunnels in groups of two." Shantotto informed her friends.

"Sounds good to me." Mickey agreed. "Us guys will look in the left tunnel while you girls look the one on the right."

"Um, isn't this place dangerous, though?" Lea pointed out.

"Only if one with magic could unleash something dangerous." Shantotto replied, shaking her head. "But that would be a foolish thing to do."

"Well, better get started." Ven declared with determination.

"So, you've been here before?" Aqua asked.

"I have heard of it in my youth, but venturing here that age is uncouth." Shantotto said.

* * *

As Ven, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Isa, Iago, Mushu, Terra and Genie searched through the tunnel which had lots of tombs, broken pots and a handful of skeletions, they had split up a little before, with the absence of Goofy, saw a menacing shadow of a sharp-toothed monster looming over them from the light of the torches Genie lit up.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Mickey and the others screamed before running away back to where they came from.

To their relief and annoyance, however, it was only Goofy who had placed a large skull of a dead animal on his head, calling out, "Hey, fellers! I found this scary skull 'round the corner. Isn't it neat?"

"Not when you nearly gave us a damn heart attack." Lea grunted in sheer annoyance, glaring at Goofy along with the others.

* * *

Meanwhile, the girls were looking through the tunnel without incidents of their own, though it was a bit harder than Aqua, Melody, Minnie and Daisy thought, but they were stubborn and so they kept looking, as did Shantotto.

"Hey, guys. Would this cauldron do?" Melody spoke up, as she gazed at the round, medieval large black metal pot that sat unused in the corner. She wasn't an expert on these sort of things, but she had heard that wizards and those who could use magic used to use these quite often.

"What's a cauldron doing in a place like this?" Minnie asked, curiously.

"An answer that is never been known. Quite agitating right to the bone." Shantotto mumured.

Well, at least they were getting somewhere.

* * *

It wasn't long before both groups rejoined in the main entrance, after Melody had the boys help lift the, surprisingly heavy, cauldron. They put water in it and placed fire around it at Shantotto and Genie's suggestions. By then, the group stood around it, hesitating since, as cauldrons go, were more for scary creations than anything else.

"Uh, you sure this is gonna help?" Mushu asked, nervously.

"As part of the mission, we need only to use this for a vision." Shantotto replied.

"You mean like show us if Mick's nightmares are warning of another upcomin' disaster or somethin'?" Lea asked, curiously.

"Precisely."

"Think of it as like how witches would sometimes look to see how her subjects are handling any situations." Genie added.

"Sounds more like an audio commuication, only without technology." The redhead thought.

"So it needs magic for it to work, right?" Ven asked, and both Shantotto and Genie nodded.

But before the Tarutaru could make the attempts, Genie quickly volunteered while magically garmenting himself in a purple-ish-blue robe with matching pointy hat, while saying, "I'll do the honors!"

"Well, okay." Ven muttered, though he had a feeling this wasn't going to go the way Genie would want.

As their magical friend waved his hands while concentrating over the Cauldron, there was a small burst of smoke and magic before it faded. But not the way Genie had intended. Because slowly, three large skeletion warriors in Viking ragged clothes emerged, alive.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The students of Radiant Academy, Iago and Mushu screamed in horror while Shantotto groaned in dismay while face-palming herself.

"Ugh!" Genie grimiced, apologetically while in fright himself. "Musta thought up barbaque sauce by mistake."

"You're lucky you didn't thought up the Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man!" Lea glared at Genie while shaking in fright by the moving skeletions.

"Make it go away!" Minnie pleaded in fright as she hid behind Mickey who shielded her from the threat.

Genie nodded before turning himself into a gladiator-like warrior and zapped light at the skeletions to get rid of them...only for the skeletions to merge and turn into a skeletion-T-Rex which it roared before using it's tail to whack Genie aside as he then hit the wall and melted into a puddle of goo. By then, Ven and everyone else immediately backed up even further as the Cauldron glowed in menacing green light.

Thankfully, Shantotto shot out magic from her staff which hit the Skeletion-Rex who faded and disappeared, leaving the Cauldron bowling, and this time, as she concentrated, it showed a ripple and reflection. The group, including the sheepish and recovering Genie, edged forward slightly before they sighed in relief when nothing bad happened.

"Your actions were reckless and rash. You should know better than to go into an unexpected clash." Shantotto scolded at Genie who twiddled his fingers and thumbs guiltily.

"Should've just told him not to touch that thing." Iago rolled his eyes.

"So, what now?" Terra asked.

"With the right and correct spell, the Cauldron will show us not only our wishes, but what fears us as well. If Mickey's nightmares are true and corrected, it will show us where fate is directed." Shantotto responded while focusing on her work at the same time.

"So... we just peer into it?" Mushu asked, trying to read along the lines and was dumbfounded.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Goofy asked.

"It's a risk we must take, as there likely is much at stake." Shantotto replied, and with a final wave, the Cauldron glowed in white light before fading, leaving a magical ripple. She then turned to Mickey and gestured him, "Gaze into the Cauldron, Mickey, but not too quickly."

"Uh..." Mickey gulped, "Okay." before smiling a little as Minnie gazed him worriedly. He then slowly approached the Cauldron while his friends and girlfriend watched, anxiously.

Steeling himself as much as possible, Mickey peered into the Cauldron, and at first, nothing happened. But then, after about a few seconds, the ripple glowed slightly before it showed him, and the others who slowly gathered around, the image from his nightmares; the large ink-like monster with perching yellow eyes. It roared while ink dripped from it's mouth and body. Behind it, were menacing figures that Mickey had seen in his dreams; the woman with the snake staff, and the Sorcerer...

But then just as the two people were about to become clear, they suddenly vanished and the monster reached out it's hand...straight towards the group, or rather, towards Mickey who screamed and fell back into his friends who stood back as well and the image vanished instantly. Mickey panted, scared out of his mind.

"Mickey! Are you alright?" Minnie asked, worriedly.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Sorry." Mickey sighed. "I don't know what happened, but I guess my nightmares are still unclear that even the Cauldron doesn't know if it is Nasira or not."

"It was not you, so you were doing fine." Shantotto pointed out as she approached the young couple. "There is a dark magic interfering other magic, including mine."

"Man, Mick'. No wonder you were freaked out almost every night." Lea sighed, shaken himself.

"You're telling me." Iago agreed as he landed on the side of the cauldron while peering inside nervously, "That thing's enough to give _me_ nightmares."

To his surprise, rather than seeing what Mickey had seen, it was something entirely different. As Iago looked, the ripples showed him an image...of himself in a blank area.

"Huh? Where's my fear?" Iago asked, as the others gathered around. The group looked at each other until Iago finally understood after a few moments and rolled his eyes, "Oh, I get it. I'm afraid of not having anything. No wealth, no luxary, nothing. Huh. Boring!"

"I'll never figure you out at all." Melody shook her head, dismayed.

All of the sudden, before anyone else could say anything further on the situation, they found themselves caught in a net and lowered to the ground, bundled up against one another, trying to break free from the net.

"Hey, w-what's goin' on?" Mickey asked. His question was answered by a familiar manic laugh before he and his friends looked up to see a familiar bad guy whom somehow managed to escape the Turks' clutches again. "The Phantom Blot!"

"While looking for some riches in this ancient Temple." The Phantom Blot sneered while moving past the captured group. "You brats are not getting in my way this time!"

"Good luck with that!" Ven grunted while he and his friends glared at the villian. "All we found were skeletions and that Cauldron."

"That's what you think." Blot said, and reached behind a pillar, and pulled a lever that wasn't there before, much to the group's surprise. Even Shantotto's. The next thing everyone knew, the entire Temple shook before the floor lowered with them on it, like an elevator.

"I admit, I did not see this coming. The Phantom Blot's intelligence is admittedly cunning." Shantotto admitted.

"That's comforting." Isa said sarcastically.

By the time everyone reached the end of the ride, they found themselves in an Aisan like Underground Garden with sunlight coming from somewhere. It was green and beautiful.

"Whoa...a whole underground Garden beneath near Gongaga?" Lea breathed in awe.

"It's lovely." Aqua breathed in awe.

Iago rolled his eyes while struggling to free himself from the net, very eager to find whatever treasure was in this place, "Sure, sure. Gorgeous. Where's the treasure? What kind is it? I don't see anything!"

"That's because it's not on the ground. It's up there." The Phantom Blot said evilly while pointing at the ceiling, next to the hole where they all came from. When the group looked to see what it was, their eyes widened in shock and awe; there attached to the ceiling was a giant sparkling golden cocoon.

"Hold on...that's not what I think it is, is it?" Mushu asked, suddenly nervous.

"It's a worm of Panacea!" Genie gasped.

"I thought they'd be extinct by now." Lea said, worriedly.

"Apparently not." Melody muttered.

"So you know about this, don't you? Another reason for me to stop you brats." Phantom Blot sneered, before pulling out some kind of device that looked like a grab it claw. He then pushed a botton and the claw stretched up towards the silk, taking a piece and then pushed another button which made it unwind it in high-speed into a large golden silk ball.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Iago warned in a sing-song tone.

"And why is that?" The Phantom Blot inquired.

"Because that worm probably already turned into a giant Moth!" Iago shrieked.

"Not my problem. Besides, I heard they only eat imps. It's a pity that none of you are imps." The Phantom Blot scoffed while turning his back to the group. "Though I can still leave you all here trapped in that net for the rest of your lives! Hahahahaha!"

Unfortunately, he underestimated them again, because suddenly there was a bit of a flash of light, and when the Blot turned to see, he did a double-take with exclaimation marks appearing above his head in shock, as the group now stood, freed, with the net having disappeared. Shantotto's staff glowed a little while dimming, as she had used a spell to free herself and her friends from the trap and now they all stood glaring at the enemy.

"To give a greeting that uncouth...What were you taught in your youth?" Shantotto scolded disapprovingly.

"Sorry, Blot! Looks like you've been outwitted again!" Mickey declared almost smugly.

Recovering from the shock after a few moments, the Blot glared angrily at the group, "Insolant fools! You, that little imp and your friends will pay!"

"Shantotto's a Tarutaru and our friend, you moron!" Lea yelled accusingly.

"You are very rude. With a scheme utterly crude." Shantotto stated to the Phantom Blot.

"Do I look like I care?" The Phantom Blot grunted, getting more and more annoyed, even as all of the silk was unwinded and rewinded into a ball. "The only thing that matters to me is the Golden Silk! It's worth a fortune!"

It wasn't until the group heard the sounds of winds blowing from the ceiling, which caused them to look up and saw, to their shock and confusion, was a huge giant Moth. But to Genie and Iago's surprise, it wasn't like the one they'd seen a thousand years ago. This one looked very similiar, but it had also developed arms with sharp claws, it's mouth dripping ink and it made a sickening roar that sounded a bit like someone throwing up.

"Uhhhhhhh oh." Mushu mumured worriedly.

"Now you've done it." Isa muttered to the Phantom Blot who looked rather frozen in quick fear himself.

"Run!" Ven cried out, and no one needed to be told twice. While Ven and his friends quickly ran and hid under some foliage, the Phantom Blot had to run in a completely different direction while screaming as the apparently mutant Moth was chasing him and not even borthering to go where the others had hid. Finally, after somehow losing track of it for the time being, the Blot leaped and hid in the same foliage as his enemies.

"I don't get it. If that thing eats Imps, why is it chasin' you?" Lea asked incredulously.

"It's not that same Moth that eats Imps! Which means my grandmother's stories are true!" Phantom Blot replied, nervously.

"Two kinds exist? Another big twist." Shantotto thought.

"Would you care to explain this kind of Moth now?" Aqua demanded while keeping her voice down.

The Phantom Blot for once shook in fear, as he explained while keeping his voice down as well, "As legend goes, one of my ancestors accidently poured the inkling skin from his body into that Worm's mouth and then it would multiply into more kinds of it, replacing the original ones. Sure they imprisoned this one while others eventually became extinct, some including that one you see had evolved into what we call Mothasaurus; The destroyer of the cities, the Harbinger of Darkness, and the Calamity of the waters!"

The new giant Moth, Mothasaurus, in the meantime, continued to fly around in the chamber looking for it's victum, roaring away.

"According to history, ever since mutating via ink skin, these monsters roamed hunting my kind. They consider us..." The Phantom Blot gulped in horror, before finishing, "A free course meal."

"H-How 'bout humans, ducks, mice, cats, birds, dragons, Tarutarus and dogs?" Goofy asked, quivering in fear. His friends, except for Shantotto who gazed up, glaring at Mothasaurus' figure, didn't fare much better.

"Oh, for crying out loud! Of course not! They eat only Inklings like me." The Phantom Blot rolled his eyes in annoyance. Well, that was some relief for the group at least.

"Well, then, looks like you've got some problems." Iago said casually.

"But if this thing gets out of the Temple, then the whole world is in danger!" Mickey pointed out. "We gotta stop it before it escapes."

"Hey, Blot-Head's the one who set it free. Let him fix the problem." Lea scoffed, glaring at the Phantom Blot. "It's his fault that Moth-Zilla got out in the first place."

He and the others then screamed and ducked just in time while Mothasaurus spotted them and dove, shearing off parts of the bush. Hurriedly, the group hid in another bush, before hiding near a tree when it spotted the Phantom Blot again.

"Your actions for gold was naught. Consider this a lesson to be taught." Shantotto delcared to the Phantom Blot as she and the rest of the group glared at him angrily.

"Who's the insolant fool now?" Terra challenged.

"I-it was a figure of speech." The Phantom Blot muttered, uncertainly and fearfully.

"I told you not to do that, and did you listen? No! Might as well be talking to a brick wall at this rate!" Iago pointed out.

"You should be ashamed with yourself!" Minnie said angrily.

"No thanks to you, that thing's gonna cause trouble!" Daisy added.

"Yeah!" Donald added.

Finally at his breaking point, the Phantom Blot fell onto his knees after seeing Mothasaurus flying around, knowing that it would eat him if something wasn't done. "Okay, okay! It's my fault! I get it! Please, please, please save me! I'll do anything! I'm begging you for my life! Please, please, please!" He sobbed as he groveled.

Sastified that the Blot actually admitted his stupidity, but a little uncomfortable how he groveled like that, the group shared a look and nodded in agreement, before Mickey approached him, saying comfortingly, "Aw, you don't have to beg. We didn't even ask ya' to. Of course we'll save ya, as long as you behave yourself."

"Really?" The Phantom Blot, disbelivingly. "Even after what I've done?"

"'Course not. We're not that kind of guys." Genie added.

"Uh, you can beg me." Iago quickly pipped up. "I enjoy watching others grovel."

"Incoming!" Terra shouted, as Mothasaurus dove again. Everyone yelled out before leaping out of the way. However, it was chasing after Mickey who screamed as it's right clawed-hand grabbed, much to their dismay.

"Mickey!" Ven cried out in horror.

Mickey squirmed and wriggled to try and free himself and gasped as Mothasaurus slowly brought him to it's mouth to eat him, until he cried out, "Wait! You don't wanna eat me! I'm a Mouse, not an Inkling!"

To his relief, Mothasaurus stopped short, before taking a caution sniff at Mickey who shivered and closed his eyes, shivering in terror. The Moth's face screwed up in disgust at the overly scent of apple-flavored soap and shampoo Mickey bathed in every night before slumping in disappointment and carelessly tossed the teenage mouse behind it.

"I gotcha, Mickey!" Goofy cried out as he raced forward and held out his arms. Mickey successfully landed in his arms, but the force of the impact caused the teenage dog to collaspe onto the ground as he yelped, "Ya-hooee!"

"It's eye-sight may be crap, but at least it has a sense of smell." Lea weakly commented.

"Even if ink does stink." Isa added dryly. The Phantom Blot glared at him, feeling insulted.

Iago groaned, "Stupid Moth! Your eye-sight's as bad as your cousin's!"

Mothasaurus dove again when it saw the real Inkling surrounded by many others. The group dove out of the way just in time before Ven noticed the silk ball before having an idea.

"We need to re-trap that thing into the silk! It's the only way to solve this mess!" Ven called out to the others as Mickey and Goofy rejoined them.

"An excellent plan. Better to do now while we can." Shantotto agreed.

"And in an supreme act of irony, I shall ensnare it in a web of it's own silk!" Genie added as he quickly dove towards it and snatched the Silk ball while avoiding the giant Moth. He then zoomed towards two linked up trees to make a spider-web made out of silk, but the result was looking more like a volley-ball net instead while he accidently tangled himself in the middle.

After an awkward moment, he admitted awkwardly, "I never was good at irony."

"Oooh! Genie!" Donald groaned in irritation.

"You call that a web?" The Phantom Blot scoffed in annoyance. "Even I could build a better web than that. I even did it once or twice when I was a child."

"Well, then, Mr. _"I-did-it-once-or-twice-as-a-kid"_ , you got that thing out of the silk, you build the web!" Lea suggested, before adding smugly when the Phantom Blot looked ready to protest, "Or would you rather be Moth-Chow instead?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that thing is just waiting for the sweetness of ink." Mushu smugly added, causing the Phantom Blot to gulp.

"So, which is it?" Melody asked.

Already making up his mind, the Phantom Blot took the silk while suggesting to the group, "Why don't all of you distract it while I build the web?"

"The ladies and I will supervise." Iago said smugly.

"Except for me. I will help to ensnare that beast, you see." Shantotto declared.

So while Iago, Melody, Aqua, Minnie and Daisy watched the Phantom Blot like hawks as he hurriedly and rather surprisingly made the perfect web, Ven, Shantotto, Mushu, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Terra, Lea, Isa and Genie hurried over to where the giant Moth was flying towards.

"Stop!" Genie halted as he hovered in front of it. "Um...do you know what time it is?"

The only answer he got was being bashed and beaten up by Mothasaurus while Genie cried out in pain, and he was quickly saved when Ven summoned the Emerald Sword before tossing it at the Moth, hitting it as it roared in anger. Lea and Isa both tossed rocks at it's head while Terra leaped from a tree he climbed up and kicked the Moth in the head. Mushu flared out Fire at one of it's wings, before it dove to attack the group, only to be hit by a magic blizzard by Shantotto, and then was hit by more rocks that Mickey, Donald and Goofy flinged with tree branches which acted as make-shift sling-shots.

As Mothasaurus crashed onto the ground and into the bushes and trees, the group hurried back to the others, knowing that, while they distracted it, they knew that it was now angry. Genie was battered up and collasped to the ground, exhausted.

"How much longer for the web? That thing's not distracted easily." Lea asked nervously.

The girls and Iago inspected the web, before they nodded in sastifaction, with the latter saying to the Phantom Blot, "Okay. We're in business."

"Nice web, if I do say so myself." Phantom Blot admired at his own handy work, before asking in confusion, "But, how are you going to get it to fly into it?"

"Hmmm...Who is the right person to use as bait for a ink-eating Moth?" Melody wondered sneakily.

The Phantom Blot was thinking himself before Genie unexpectedly grabbed him and then tied him up in the middle of the web, much to his shock. "What are you doing!? Let me go!"

"We shall make it straight; you are the only one best as bait." Shantotto grinned.

"Are you insane!? You brats are the good guys!" The Phantom Blot protested.

Not responding, instead the group turned back to where the Moth was flying while the girls went to hide out of the way, and only Shantotto wasn't worried, as Ven called out to get it's attention, "Mothasaurus! Over here!"

"Inkling on the menu!" Terra called out, playing along.

"Waiting for you to have for lunch!" Lea added.

"A great big house-dressing!" Mickey added.

"Come and get it!" Goofy hollared.

Genie turned into a carnival barker, calling out, "Get yer Inkling, right here! Tasty, moth-fresh Inkling!"

"All you can eat!" Donald called out.

"Low-Fat!" Isa added with a smirk.

"Cholesterol free!" Mushu added.

"No added sugar!" Lea continued.

As the boys were calling out the giant Moth, the Phantom Blot by now was quivering and shaking in fear, sweating as the Inkivore was getting closer and closer. Genie by then magically brought up a huge neon-light arrowing pointing at the Blot, while Ven and the others moved out of the way to avoid in getting caught.

Iago, one second late, shakily said in fear, "Uh, I just remembered, I have a dental appointment." and ran to the side to avoid in getting accidently eaten himself...again.

"Oh! I can't watch!" Minnie whimpered as she, Aqua, Melody and Daisy covered their eyes, unable to look.

Apparently, neither could the Phantom Blot. He shut his eyes tightly as he braced himself to be eaten while Mothasaurus got closer and closer. Just then he thought it was the end, Mickey, Ven, Isa, Lea, Donald, Goofy and Terra pulled at Blot's right leg and pulled him out of the web, narrowly missing the giant Moth who crashed into the web of it's silk, crashing onto the ground and becoming entangled and stuck while struggling to break free.

Genie wasted no time and spun the moth and silk around, recreating the cocoon and covering the now once again trapped Moth inside the silk. Everyone else sighed in relief while the Phantom Blot quivered, shocked at his close call while babbling incoherently.

"Aw, you didn't really think we were gonna let ya get eaten, did ya?" Mickey said to the criminal. "I wouldn't wish that even on the meanest bad guys like you."

"I-I'm alive." The Phantom Blot said, simply, still shell-shocked.

"So. What've you got to say for yourself?" Ven asked, glaring at him.

"The apology is best saved for later, dear." Shantotto spoke up quickly. "For now, it is in our interest to get out of here."

Lea nodded in agreement, "I'm with her on that one. 'Cause I don't wanna stay here any longer than I have to."

No one argued with him on that one.

* * *

After the group let the Temple and forced the Phantom Blot to apologise for his actions, Ven's group had called the Turks to arrest him(again) before returning to the Academy with the Cauldron they found after sealing the Temple to make sure no one could get to Mothasaurus and to make sure it would never get free again.

"Hey, y'know. We still have no idea if Nasira really is back or not." Goofy realised in disappointment. His friends all sighed, realising that he was right.

"And we're not sure if that thing from Mick's nightmare is here yet or not either." Lea sighed, leaning against the wall while folding his arms against his chest.

Mickey was pacing back and forth while saying, "Aw, we can't just give up now. There's gotta be a way to figure this out and soon, or it'll end up being like Hades and Chernabog all over again."

"Well, what if we just look for someone with that same snake staff?" Ven suggested. "I mean, sure we don't have a clue who that lady is or that other guy is either, but we do at least have something to look into, right?"

The rest of the group shared glances, as they realised that Ven was right. It wasn't a huge clue, but that staff was a clue at least. Plus, considering the recent events, they knew that Mickey's nightmare was a sign of what was coming.

"And that creature may be unstoppable as long as she draws breath; another reason that witch deserves a quick death." Shantotto added.

Realising that they were right, and deciding that he's had enough of being scared out of his heart and mind of being eaten or captured when he wasn't even the real target of Chernabog to begin with, Mickey nodded in determination.

"Well, I don't care if it is Nasira or not. The important thing is we find that person and stop her and that Sorcerer before they can bring that Monster to life, and the next thing to do is to find that idenity with the Snake Staff!" Mickey declared boldly, to which his friends and girlfriend were impressed, but knew that he was right. So they nodded in agreement.

"And since we got as much support here at school and in ShinRa, hopefully it'll make the searching a little easier." Lea added.

"And I will research from one library to another, but deep down, we all search for the answer together." Shantotto laughed.

"Then it's settled; Operation Investigation is about to start!" Ven declared with determination.

"Yeah!" Everyone else cheered.

Except for Iago who groaned, grumbling, "What am I getting myself into now?"

While everyone knew that the searching for answers won't be easy and daily life still had to be protected as well, it looked like another huge quest to protect the world was about to start.

Thus the upcoming battle against the woman, whether it is Nasira or not, was seeping ever so closer.

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: Not the best of episodes, but I'm running out of ideas at this point. Maybe this series will have lesser episodes than the previous seasons. Who knows? I'll try and update this again sooner if I can.**

 **In the meantime, see you in the next episode!**


	18. Episode 18: A Muddy Time

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: After struggling on how this episode should turn out, I finally come up with this.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 18: A Muddy Time.

In a dark abandoned building, a familiar figure stood before a large machine. It wasn't just any machine, and this was no regular man. Or at least a regular nice man at any rate. Because as he stepped into the moonlight, Hojo could be seen as he admired his latest invention with an evil grin.

While in her Volcano Domain, Nasira was searching through ways of how to reach her goals without those Students of Radiant Academy from intervering. As she gazed through the glass ball, she then smirked as an idea came into mind as did something rather unusual at this time of day. A clue somewhere she hadn't even thought off before.

"Perfect." The two villians muttered in the two seperate areas.

"But first, a practice run should do the trick." Hojo muttered to himself, as he fiddled with the machine a bit more.

"What I need is a sacrifice test." Nasira muttered to herself, gazing at her crystal ball again, eying on a certain teenage boy. "And I know who to send in."

* * *

Meanwhile, Timon and Pumbaa had arrived via sneaking onboard a boat to arrive in Destiny Island, hurried over to the beach while Timon was happily playing a small guitar.

"A nice hot weather with cool clear blue waters!" Pumbaa cheered happily.

"That's right, Pumbaa. Instead of hitting the slopes..." Timon began, as their original plan had been going to Alaska, but as they had taken the wrong boat, they quickly decided that the beach was much more welcoming. "We'll hit the beach!"

He then pulled out a coat hanger and gestured to his friend, "Here, put on this Sarong!"

"What Sarong?" Pumbaa asked, not seeing the material at all.

That's when Timon completed the joke, "Nothin'! What 'Sarong' with you?" and laughed hysterically while tossing the hanger aside. "Oh, the classics never die."

He then went over to their suitcase and pulled out a red Sarong(briefly making himself like a beautiful lady wearing while fluttering his eyes) and then tossed it which it landed around Pumbaa's neck, followed by a sun-hat and sunglasses, now ready for the day at the beach.

"Ah...this is the life, Timon! Fresh salt air, sun glittering on the ocean, and not a soul to be seen from miles around." Pumbaa sighed, content. But he failed to realise that a small stone materialized behind him in the sand and when he went to sit down...

He vanished.

Timon, unaware of what was going on, was tossing every single beach item that sorted itself out for a beach picnic before he was drinking Orange Juice with a little umbrella.

"Yes, sir. When it comes to the beach, we do things right. Right, Pumbaa?" Timon responded, only to realise that his bestest best friend was downright missing, having left behind the summer outfit.

"Pumbaa? Pumbaa? Pumbaa! Pumbaa!" Timon began to panic while looking around for any signs for the Warthog, only to realise, to his horror and dismay...He was alone and Pumbaa was gone.

"PUMBAA!" He cried out in devasation. But then he realised something, "Wait! Pumbaa must've been kidnapped behind my back!"

Glaring at the direction despite the lack of footprints, Timon turned to the town and the nearby jungle before nodding and marched onward, "Hold on, Pumbaa! I'm coming to save you!"

If only he knew the situation was worse.

* * *

Meanwhile, the next day, Ven, Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Melody, Iago, Mushu and Genie had just arrived in Destiny Town with a map in hand.

"Are you _sure_ we'll find something here worth while?" Donald asked, skeptically.

"Well, Shantotto did say there might be a clue to help us see if Nasira is the cause of what's gonna happen or not. Besides, it's a week off so we might as well enjoy a little bit of fun at the beach while we still can at the same time." Mickey explained.

"As much as I like to agree, we're not here for vacation." Isa pointed out firmly.

"Lighten up, Isa. It's not like we're hitting the beach 24/7." Lea rolled his eyes.

Iago flew over while shaking his head, saying, "Easy for you to say. Just hope there's no Oasis around with Al Muddy people around here."

"Al Muddy?" Melody asked, blinking in confusion. "Who's that?"

"What do you think it is? A guy who leads a tribe of native people who live in an Oasis to invite people for a welcoming committee?" Iago responded sarcastically before yelling, "NO! It's Oasis-Trap and you're lured into becoming the Al Muddi King's meal!"

"Al Muddi King's meal?" Terra blinked, a bit alarmed.

Genie, being the one with magic, magically turned into an explorer from the safari while explaining, "The mud motif is common among the primitive elemental spirits dwelling deep within the bowels of the earth. These spirits, known as the Al-Muddi are very fond of humans."

"...For breakfest, lunch and dinner, right?" Lea correctly guessed, somewhat nervously, adding that to Iago's discription

"They also have a bit of an appetite for animals too for back-up, since humans were hard to come by." Genie shrugged, which made Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Mushu quiver and cling onto each other. "But they manly rested underneath the sand in Agrabah thousands of years ago...Not sure if Al' stopped them or we all met our fates in being eaten."

"Huh? But uh, I thought you said everybody you met died due to old age." Goofy pointed out, and to his further confusion, everyone else gazed at him with puzzled expressions.

"Did that really happen?" Aqua asked, puzzled. For some reason, it did sound familiar, but she wasn't sure why that was the case.

"Are you sure you're not making this up?" Donald asked, skeptically.

Goofy tried to think, and thought so hard and long that he racked through his goofy-brain to try and remember, and he did, he pipped up almost too loudly that made Donald cringe, "Yep! Heck, I'm sure! Genie and Iago told us that Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding got crashed by the Forty Thieves!"

An awkward pause.

"Um...You sure you haven't misheard, Goofy?" Mickey inquired. "'Cause that's not what I remember."

"What? How can anybody forget that!?" Goofy exclaimed, shocked.

"I...don't remember a wedding or Forty Thieves. As a matter of fact, I don't even remember much except being brought back to life by Genie's sneeze last year." Iago spoke up.

Everyone paused before gazing at each other, looking a bit alarmed.

"Okay, this is weird. I suddenly feel like my head's switching images all over the place." Lea muttered, blinking in confusion.

"This must be...who was it we were trying to find out again?" Genie asked, puzzled.

"Oh no! Our memories are being messed up!" Mickey exclaimed in realization.

"Uh...do you think this is bad magic happening around here?" Mushu asked, worriedly.

Lea blinked, worriedly as he muttered, "I'm just gonna go right ahead and throw it out here, but I've seen this in Time-Travelling movies and games, like the Prince of Persia Sands of Time Trilogy; Change history, and no one even remembers the previous time-line except the guy who did so."

"Change history!? That means...I MIGHT NOT BE AROUND ANY LONGER!" Genie bellowed in horror, almost yanking his hair off his head before collasping onto the ground and sobbed pathetically, his tears raining out like a heavy rain.

"Garwsh, maybe Nasira's doin' all of this!" Goofy exclaimed, before gasping in horror as he realised, "That means we're really are losers! What do I do!? What do I do!?" as he began running around in circles, but as he didn't look where he was doing, a stone that wasn't on the ground before began to glow as Goofy accidently stepped on it.

As he did, it glowed so bright that Goofy and his friends noticed this too late as he screamed in alarm while everyone else had to shield their eyes from the bright light. When everyone else lowered their arms, they all gasped as Goofy wasn't there anymore, and neither was the stone.

He was gone.

"Goofy!? Goofy!" Mickey cried out, horrified and worried.

"Where is he?" Aqua cried out, alarmed.

"Am I the only one thinkin' that...he might've been erased?" Lea asked, horrified.

"Or taken somewhere." Ven added, equally horrified. He then looked at friends and told them firmly, "We have to figure out where he went, and fast!

The others nodded and began their search.

What Nasira saw didn't make her happy one bit. She growled as the change of history, done by a man whom was also an enemy to her enemies, had successfully messed with the group's minds except for one; the goofiest student of them all.

"Just great! It got the wrong student!" Nasira growled, but paused as she realised something. "Even so...he is the clumsiest...so he has no chance of making things right. Now, time for the next step since he's too stupid to rescue that Warthog from earlier."

She smirked and began laughing evilly; things were finally starting to come along nicely."

* * *

 _A Thousand Years Ago..._

In a huge desert on a hot sunny day, three royal Guards, Razoul, Fazal and Hakim, from Agrabah stood before their eyes as the entire Oasis that they, their Princess and four others and a Magic Carpet had travelled to, was sucked into the Sands and vanishing instantly...and seemingly having taken the Princess and her 'friends' as well.

"The Princess...the Princess!" Razoul exclaimed in worry. He then turned to glare at the other two, ordering, "Find her, you cowards!"

"But-but where shall we look? Everything is gone!" Fazal stuttered.

The head Guard growled, "I don't care. Find her or I'll have your heads!" though when the two other guards, fearing what he would do to them, ran off to find the Princess, once they were out of earshot, Razoul couldn't help but nervously and scaredly make a 'slice-off-head' mime as he muttered, "...And the Sultan will have mine."

Unaware to him, three beams of light appeared from the middle of the desert and while two enter underneath the sands, the third one in a small distance where a purple Magic Carpet was trying and failing to dig through the sand, looks up before it hears a scream before it and Goofy, who crashed on top of him, crash right into the sand and continue to fall through into an underground cavern and land right into the mud.

The Carpet resurfaced first and shook mud off it, only to hover up in fright when bubbles appeared. But it suddenly became confused when Goofy emerged, spluttering mud before he stood up looked around.

"Gawrsh. Where am I?" He wondered, looking around the area nervously. He then began calling out, "Mickey? Donald? Ven? Aqua? Terra? Anybody?" only to realise that he was on his own.

It wasn't until Goofy noticed the Carpet until it flew and stood in front of him. "Hey, another Magic Carpet! Ay-hyuck! Genie must've brought ya here to rescue me!"

The Carpet 'scratched' it's head with a tussle in confusion, wondering what this strange fellow was talking about.

"Say, do ya think ya can take me up to the surface? I was with my friends when this light glowed and brought me here." Goofy requested.

It only made the Carpet even more confused, before it reached for a stick and began drawing the events that happened, with Goofy watching. For someone being, well, goofy, he could somehow understand what the Carpet was trying to say.

"You were with Genie...with other pals...and a Princess...looking for an Oasis which was...above us? And then suddenly everything except you were swallowed up and brought here...from the desert?" Goofy asked, dumbfounded. "That's funny. I was at a beach in Destiny Town with my friends hopin' to find answers about Nasira who's causing problems all over the world, and Genie was with us."

The Carpet shook before pointing at the figure of Genie on the ground, indicating that Genie was here too.

"But Mr. Carpet, how can Genie be in two different places without tellin' any of us?" Goofy pointed out, shrugging.

"Interesting...so this is the past where the boy's Genie inhailed from." A familiar voice that only Goofy recongised suddenly spoke behind him. When Goofy spun around, he gasped while the figure continued, "And yet, you somehow came here as well without joining me in my latest experiment."

"HOJO!" Goofy shrieked in horror. He then realised something and asked in confusion, "Hey, wait...are you the one who brought me here and causin' my friends to think differently?"

The mad Scientist scowled in annoyance, "I can see why your parents named you Goofy. You're too simple-minded. No, you came here by another power source...into the past of one of your friends."

A pause.

Goofy didn't understand at first, but when he remembered what Lea mentioned earlier, he gasped in horror and exclaimed, "I TIME TRAVELLED TO THE PAST!?" before muttering calmly to Carpet, "No wonder we both got confused."

He then realised something else and then glared at Hojo, "YOU'RE the one who's causing the mess in the first place!" before asking, "How'd you get here?"

"That is none of your business, and I must get a move on, because you won't be around by the time I'm done with my latest experiment." Hojo cackled evilly as he powered up a jet strapped to his back before flying off to the right, which was right above two fairly large mud-like monsters that were gazing at Goofy who jolted in fear.

"Al-Muddi!" Goofy screamed in horror, before yelping as Carpet scooped him up and flew into the opposite direction, "YAH-HOO-HOOEE!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a large castle on a giant table, Pumbaa was struggling and failing to free himself as he was tied up by his legs, with an apple in his mouth, and trapped inside a jar, while two Al-Muddi pilled two pieces of his tail-hair and then bowed as a shadow of a much, much larger Al-Muddi appeared around the corner. Seeing this with horrified wide-eyed fear, Pumbaa then covered his eyes and quivered in terror.

The Al-Muddi Sultan approaches around the corner, clutching Genie(Past), Iago(Past), and others; Princess Jasmine, Aladdin, and Abu the Monkey, before he noticed Pumbaa who nervously looked but to his surprise, payed no heed.

"Oh, you brought me a Warthog. Well, that won't do, because they stink. I've brought a much better main course." The Muddi-Sultan informed the other Al-Muddi who, looking shocked, shrugged to one other before bowing and leaving, while he placed Genie in a small bottle, and everyone else in another jar.

"Now, time to prepare for dinner." Sultan mumured as he went over to a stove nearby.

As Pumbaa watched, he strained and finally spat out the apple from his mouth and asked, with worry and hope in his voice, "Not that I want these guys to get eaten, but does this mean I'm not turning into Beacon?"

"At least he's on our side in not wanting us to get eaten." Iago grumbled, unaware that Pumbaa had come from the future and thus, Pumbaa in turn was unaware that he was in the past and that Iago and Genie wouldn't recongise him.

* * *

Goofy continously screamed as Carpet flew away from the Al-Muddi that were chasing them all over the place while searching for Hojo and a way back into the Present without doing damage to history, which, given Goofy had no idea what was really going on, was becoming more and more difficult, except that the mad Scientist had to be stopped.

It wasn't until Goofy noticed the said evil man near a machine that looked more like a metal box near a huge castle that he quickly tugged Carpet to a stop. "Look! There he is!"

He and Carpet then heard another scream as a young man, Aladdin, was thrown out of the window and into a pile of mud near a cliff before being grabbed by the other Al-Muddi and hanged dangerously over a cliff. That's when Goofy realised the problem and looked back and forth until he had an idea.

"Say, you drop me to where Mr. Hojo is and then you go save their feller and fast!" Goofy coached.

Despite not wanting to drop Goofy, Carpet knew that Aladdin's life was in danger and saluted before it dropped Goofy who yelled out while he fell down towards where Hojo and his Time Machine were, while Carpet quickly flew in to catch Aladdin who landed onto it just in time.

"Way to go, Carpet! Let's go collect some passengers!" Aladdin praised and steered his flying friend towards the shiny Castle.

Unaware that Hojo had pulled out some kind of device and grinned evilly as he aimed it at the unaware Aladdin and Carpet. "To change history by killing the boy and rendering the survival of others in the future will ensure my victory!"

"...YAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOOEEEEEEE!" A familiar scream filled his ears as a familiar falling became louder and louder.

"Oh, what now?" Hojo groaned in annoyance while he looked up and to his shock and dismay, Goofy came plummeting right onto him where he crashed onto the evil scientist who lost his grip on the device that then flared and zapping at the Machine, causing it to disintigrate into nothing while the device itself briefly exploded.

"Ay-yhuck...Hiya, Professor!" Goofy waved while he layed on top of the bad guy.

Hojo growled as he shoved Goofy off before standing, "You insolant fool! You ruined my chance in claiming my victory! You and your friends never leave me alone, do you?" before grinning as he pulled out a small device from his pockets as he began to power up his jet. "No matter. I can easily try again and strand you here in the past for the rest of your life!"

While this was going on, chaos was happening inside as Aladdin and Carpet were distracting the Mud-Sultan enough for Jasmine, Iago and Abu to free themselves and collect Genie, as Pumbaa's jar was accidently knocked and smashed, freeing him while he accidently flew onto the window frame. He then watched as Aladdin and Carpet picked up the others before flying over him and then gasped when he saw the Sultan transform into a giant, worm-like mud monster before following the group.

"This is the time to get outta here!" Pumbaa quivered before noticing something else on the ground and gasped as he recongised Goofy and Hojo who was about to fly off. "I gotta save that guy!"

Then an idea came into mind and, finding determination within him, Pumbaa bounced back four times before rearing himself and bounced again and then leaped from the window, hollaring, "I'm comin' down!"

Just as Hojo was about to make his escape, Pumbaa crashed right on top of him which distracted the evil Scientist long enough to hover helplessly.

"Hey, that Warthog's here too." Goofy muttered to the viewers/readers in confusion, accidently breaking the fourth wall.

Breaking from his thoughts, Goofy hurried over as he yelled out to Hojo who began to fly higher with Pumbaa on top of him, "No you don't, Hojo!" and then grabbed hold of his legs as the trio then began to fly out of control and nearing towards the exit where Aladdin's group and the Mud-Sultan had disappeared into, flying through the passageways while ahead of them, the Mud-Sultan began to grow bigger and bigger.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aladdin's group had just made it through the opening to the surface while Aladdin yelled out to the Guards urgently, "On your camels! Run, hurry!"

Snapping out of his shocked, relieved and confused state, Razoul quickly ordered the guards, "You heard him!" before he and Hakim ran off.

Fazal on the other hand, peered into the hole while asking, not understanding what the problem was. "What is it? Is it bad?"

He then screamed and fell onto his butt as the now Palace-Height Mud-Sultan emerged from the hole, glaring. Fazal crawled before turning and running towards the others as the Sultan stood, towering over everyone below him.

"...It's bad." Razoul muttered, horrified and stunned with terrified awe.

Unaware of the group, Hojo, Goofy and Pumbaa emerged as the trio continued to fight in midair, with Goofy and Pumbaa struggling for the little Time Machine that Hojo was attempting to use to restart his plot all over again.

"Let go of me, you miserable miscreants!" Hojo demanded, while the trio flew further into the desert away from the hole, and the Sultan then turned his attention to Aladdin who ran. "If they survive, the future will remain the same as it always has been!"

"Uh...that's the idea!" Goofy pointed out, struggling to get the machine. "I am NOT gonna let ya change everything, Hojo!"

That's when Pumbaa noticed something as he gasped at the sight of Aladdin leaping to the sand and the Mud-Sultan stood over him, directly in the heat of the sun as the giant monster bellowed, rising his fist to crush him, "Eat mud, little man." but to his shock, confusion and then horror, his fist began to harden and turn into dust.

"He's...drying out?" Jasmine whispered, amazed.

Aladdin, on the ground, smiled as he explained, "It's the sun. He's never been in this kind of heat before."

Everyone, including those from the future, watched as the Al-Muddi Sultan was horrified and too late to save himself while he dried up completely in a matter of minutes, before shattering and crumbling into hundreds of pieces some of which covered Aladdin who did his best to cover himself. While Carpet landed on the ground and Jasmine and the others hurried over, Razoul dug into the rubble and pulled out a still alive Aladdin, helping him stand.

"I was wrong. The Sultan put the right man in charge." Razoul admitted, thankful that Aladdin had saved the day(and kept everyone alive at the same time).

"Was there ever a doubt?" Jasmine asked with a smile, happily embracing her boyfriend who hugged her in return, relieved that things turned out alright.

Even Iago hovered over to Aladdin, admitting, "Yeah, I hate to say it, but...I guess you're a pretty good leader after all." only for the latter to cover Iago's head with his fez, causing the parrot to yelp and crash onto the ground.

"Hear that? That's the sound of no one disagreeing with you!" Aladdin teased with a smirk.

"Hey, what...hey, get me out of here! I can't breathe!" Iago's cries were muffled as he struggled to pull the fez off his head. "Hey, wait! Wait! Hey! Ah! Where is everybody!?"

Hojo was far from pleased. All his plans were ruined yet again, and this time by the doofus of a student and a Warthog! Though before he could do anything, Pumbaa took this oppotunity to clobber him on the head, knocking him out and Goofy to snatch the small machine.

"We did it!" Goofy cheered, only for the jet-pack to run out of power and go dead, leaving him, Pumbaa and the unconscious Hojo in the air for a split second.

"Uh-oh." Pumbaa muttered, before he and the other two fall screaming towards the ground.

Goofy, panicking and then gazing at the machine in his hand, grabbed onto Pumbaa and the unconcious Hojo while fiddling with the machine. But since he didn't know how it worked, he randomly pushed the bottons but it didn't seem to be working, and they were getting closer and closer to the ground.

Coming to terms that this was the end, Goofy and Pumbaa made a silent plea to spare them, while the former somehow accidently pushed another botton that then zapped all three of them as Goofy and Pumbaa cried out in being somewhat electrocuded before they and Hojo vanished without a trace.

Aladdin and the others, hearing the screams and unsual lightning zapping, turned to see what was going on, only to find nothing.

"Was I hearing things, or did you guys hear something?" Aladdin asked, puzzled.

"I thought I heard screaming." Jasmine replied, confused.

"Maybe it was the Al-Muddi ghosts pleading to be returned to life." Genie shrugged, half-joking.

Though none of them would ever find out the source of this unsolved mystery. So, with everything back to normal, they all went back onto the Camels and made their journey back to Agrabah.

* * *

 _In the Present Day..._

Ven, Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Iago, Mushu and Genie had just arrived in Destiny Town with a map in hand.

"Are you _sure_ we'll find something here worth while?" Donald asked, skeptically.

"Well, Shantotto did say there might be a clue to help us see if Nasira is the cause of what's gonna happen or not. Besides, it's a week off so we might as well enjoy a little bit of fun at the beach while we still can at the same time." Mickey explained.

"As much as I like to agree, we're not here for vacation." Isa pointed out firmly.

"Lighten up, Isa. It's not like we're hitting the beach 24/7." Lea rolled his eyes.

Iago flew over while shaking his head, saying, "Easy for you to say. Just hope there's no Oasis around with Al Muddy people around here."

"Al Muddy?" Melody asked, blinking in confusion. "Who's that?"

"What do you think it is? A guy who leads a tribe of native people who live in an Oasis to invite people for a welcoming committee?" Iago responded sarcastically before yelling, "NO! It's Oasis-Trap and you're lured into becoming the Al Muddi King's meal!"

"Al Muddi King's meal?" Terra blinked, a bit alarmed.

Before Genie could reply, Goofy was strangely then shocked as lightning suddenly came from the sky before collasping onto the ground, unaware that his future-self had just merged into his body and now he was slightly burnt. Quickly concerned, the group gathered around him in great worry.

"You okay, Goofy?" Ven asked, worriedly.

Dazed, Goofy shook his head before muttering, "Gawrsh...I think I'm seein' stars." before realising what happened and asked to Genie, "Uh...where you gonna say somethin'?"

"Well..." Genie began, in confusion, before saying what he meant to say, "The mud motif is common among the primitive elemental spirits dwelling deep within the bowels of the earth. These spirits, known as the Al-Muddi are very fond of humans."

"...For breakfest, lunch and dinner, right?" Lea correctly guessed, somewhat nervously, adding that to Iago's discription

"They also have a bit of an appetite for animals too for back-up, since humans were hard to come by." Genie shrugged, which made Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Mushu quiver and cling onto each other. "But they manly rested underneath the sand in Agrabah thousands of years ago...Good thing Al saved the day once again, otherwise we would've been eaten and then there'd be no wedding."

Goofy blinked, and, with memories of what happened to him, realised that he somehow fixed history. He then stood up and said happily, "Hooray! You fellas remember again!"

"Huh? Uh...whaddya mean 'remember again'?" Mickey asked, confused.

"Well, gee...don't ya's remember me vanishing or somethin'?" Goofy shrugged, before he explained what had actually happened before. When he finished, Goofy was met with puzzled and skeptical looks from most of the group.

"Are you sure you're not making this up?" Donald asked.

"Hey, I suddenly remember seeing a Warthog in the Al-Muddi's castle, and now that I think of it, he looked just like the one that Meerkat hangs out with." Iago suddenly realised, as a fresh new memory came into his mind.

"That's because it's the same!" Genie realised, turning into a scolar and pulled out an history scroll, "If what Goofy said is true, then history was messed up before it was re-fixed!"

Everyone shared concerned glances before gazing at the ground where Goofy mentioned and carefully approached it. True enough, there sat a stone, glittering in the sunlight.

"Goofy's right. That must've what brought him into the past in the first place to stop Hojo." Ven realised.

"But it has strong, evil magic, so don't touch it!" Genie warned, before magically conjouring up a small machine and a jar before carefully scooping up the stone and sealed it inside before sealing in a vault and then made a huge and very deep hole into the sand before resting it inside and then buried it and covering it up. "That, my friends, has a Sorceress Magic in that!"

"It must be Nasira's doing, if it is her." Terra realised with a concerned frown.

"But I don't get it." Lea muttered, confused. "If she wants to stop us, why did she leave that here for us sto fix history?"

"Or maybe she hoped we would become trapped in another time." Aqua realised, "Though if Hojo tried to change history, he went into the same place the Sorceress want us to die into."

"There's another thing that doesn't quite add up." Mickey muttered, with a serious expression. "Did the Warthog step onto that stone too by accident? And how did he and the Meerkat get here?"

"You guess is good as any, Mick'." Mushu said, placing his hands on his hips.

Ven then said to the group, "Well, either way, this became more serious and I think we should continue investigating Destiny Town for more clues, just in case. If not, then we'll head back and start over."

"He's right. Maybe the Lagoon nearby could help further through town. There's another beach on the other side. Shantotto did say a clue could be there." Melody suggested with a shrug while in agreement with Ven.

Without much leads after Goofy's little Time-Travelling adventure, the group continued onward into town to find any clues if Nasira really is their new enemy or not.

"Just one question...what did happen to Hojo and that Warthog?" Lea asked.

Even Goofy didn't know, and those were the two other worries.

* * *

 _A day earlier..._

"Ah...this is the life, Timon! Fresh salt air, sun glittering on the ocean, and not a soul to be seen from miles around." Pumbaa sighed, content. But he failed to realise that a small stone materialized behind him in the sand...and as he was about to sit on it, a lightning bolt zapped him and a bit away from the stone, though he was a bit cripsy. The force of the lightning had blown Timon a few feet away while he landed face first into the sand.

Recovering, Timon saw what had happened and gasped, "Oh my gosh!" and then dragged his dazed friend by the tail towards near the rocks for shelter, thinking that a storm was about to come.

Not knowing what really happend to Pumbaa.

* * *

 _With Hojo..._

He had crashed onto the ground as the building he was in earlier had now been completely destroyed, along with the small Time-Machine which exploded the moment Goofy used it to take him, Hojo and Pumbaa back into the present and now restored history.

When the Scientist came to, Hojo, remembering what happened and seeing the building and most of his gear and tools destroyed, growled in sheer anger.

"Those Radiant Academy brats...THEY ALWAYS RUIN EVERYTHING!" He screamed out, the shout echoing in the area. He would definitely get them someday. He promised himself this.

Even though his Time-Travel plan had ultimately failed.

* * *

Nasira, having felt and seen the effects of what happened through her glass-ball, had used her magic to transport herself into the restored history while the two previous ones were erased and now everything was back the way things had been.

And she was not happy.

"Even that doofus-student saved the day!" She growled angrily, furious that Goofy had been the hero this time.

Shaking her head as she stormed towards the nearby table, grumbling, "Those children are much more trouble than Aladdin was, even to the point of saving him before my previous attack!"

Nasira then picked up two pieces of hair that rested as she then smiled evilly, "Even so...they are no closer in stopping my ultimate plan. After all, I have the first ingredient pieces, thanks to the Al-Muddi giving it to me when I entered the past...that Warthog was useful."

She then began laughing evilly and maniacally before stepping over to a hole where a lava pool rested, tossing the two pieces of tail hair into it.

Within the Lava, a ghostly figure of an old man who appeared to be an evil Sorcerer with a black goatee, was smiling evilly as he he soundlessly laughed as well.

His return was about to come true.

* * *

Back with Ven and the others, as they found nothing in the town, the group decided to take Melody's advice and followed her towards the other beach towards a Lagoon that she said.

"Uh, just to clear this up, Mel'. You sure this Lagoon is real and not a bait-trap by the possible newer generation of Al-Muddi? 'Cause I don't wanna encounter them again!" Iago inquired a little nervously to the half-human-half-mermaid.

"If there were, King Triton wouldn't have let anyone go there in the first place. Merpeople used to go there quite a lot often." Melody replied.

"So what happened to make them stop?" Aqua asked.

Melody sighed, annoyed, "Selene. She tried to turn everyone into quill to feed them to Armand in that area. Since then, no one's been there out of fear that she would end up trying again. It's a good thing the King stopped her."

"Hey, hold up!" Lea called out suddenly as something caught his eye as they had neared the beach.

"What is it, Lea?" Mickey asked, and when the redhead pointed to what caught his eye, he and everyone else turned to look and their eyes widened as three somethings layed on the beach, unconscious on the sand.

A red-haired mermaid with a green tail, a yellow and blue fish, and, to the group's shock and confusion, Sebastian almost buried in the sand, with his head, legs and claws sticking out.

"W-what happened!?" Terra exclaimed, shocked.

Melody's expression was even more shockful as she recongised her fellow mermaid and fish.

"Ariel? Flounder!?"

While under the sea in a cave, a terrified gray fish quivered as a giant dark figure, looking like a mutant sting-ray floated over him with an evil smile, saying to the fish, "Now that you have freed me, there is something I wish to speak to you, little fish."

Looks like things are about to get even worse both on the surface and in the ocean, and just when Goofy had saved the day...it seems a great epic battle was about to begin.

TO BE CONTINUED!

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that this episode was shorter than the last one, but hopefully the next time will be long. This episode though, leads directly into the next one which will also take time. We're coming close to the end of this series!**

 **See you in the next episode!**


	19. Episode 19: Ocean True

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: To make up for the last episode's shortage, I've decided to post this episode almost immediately while I figure out how the next final three episodes of this series plays out.**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 19: Ocean True.

 _Previously, on Life NEVER was Normal..._

 _A terrified gray fish quivered as a giant dark figure, looking like a mutant sting-ray floated over him with an evil smile, saying to the fish, "Now that you have freed me, there is something I wish to speak to you, little fish."_

 _Looks like things are about to get even worse both on the surface and in the ocean, and just when Goofy had saved the day...it seems a great epic battle was about to begin._

* * *

"Uh...l-lemme get this straight." The Gray fish muttered, making sure he heard what the being, calling himself the Evil Manta, was saying, "You want me to sneak into Atlantica and steal something very valuable from the Kingdom and give it to you?"

The Evil Manta growled, "Yes! For the tenth time!" before he smiled evilly, "Personally, I need something to destroy all that is good in the sea. Should you fail me..."

The Gray fish didn't need to be told anymore on that, because he quivered before screaming out, "Okay, okay! I'm goin', I'm goin'!" before swimming away as fast as he could and while he knew this was a wrong thing to do, he feared for his life and thus had no choice but to do what the Manta ordered him to do.

Laughing evilly and in amusement of his 'savior's' fear, Manta then swam off into a cave which he decided already would be his domain until he settled for a more...comfortable place.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the surface where we last left our heroes, Melody no sooner had she recongised the mermaid and fish had she hurried over to see if they were okay, with her surface friends sharing a concerned glance before hurrying over to help as well.

"Ariel? Are you alright?" Melody asked worriedly, as she gently shook the red-haired mermaid on the shoulder to wake her up. To her and everyone else's relief, Ariel, regaining consciousness, pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"Melody? What are you doing here?" Ariel replied, surprised to see the half-human-half-mermaid again.

The younger girl blinked, "Me? What about you?"

"Where's Flounder?" Ariel wondered, ignoring the question for the time being.

"Uh, right here Ariel...and there-there are h-hu-humans around!" The yellow and blue fish, Flounder, stuttered as Mickey approached him carefully. When the fish spoke, the group were caught by surprise and shared stunned glances...except for Iago who rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"First a talking crab and now a talking fish." Lea muttered, amazed. He then pouted, "How come the Meerkat and the Warthog can't talk to us?"

"Aw, don't be scared. We're here to help." Mickey replied, as he picked up the scared Flounder before gently settling him back into the water. "There ya' go."

"Humans!" Ariel exclaimed, before giggling in delight. "I've always wanted to meet them and others on the surface." She then turned to Melody and asked, "Are they your friends I've heard about?"

Melody giggled, "Yeah, they sure are. Some of them, anyway. This is Ventus-everyone calls him Ven, Aqua, Terra, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Iago, Genie and Mushu."

"Hey, there." Ven greeted, as did the rest of the group.

"Hi there." Ariel greeted back, while Flounder, still wiry, hid behind her and shook, which she noticed. "Oh, Flounder. They're all Melody's friends." Before asking as she noticed someone else was missing, "Where's Sebastian?"

The question was answered when they all heard Sebastian's dazed babble as he finally regained consciousness and turned to see him still stuck in the sand. This made Iago laugh.

"Trust the crab to get stuck like that!" Iago laughed, only to be smacked on the back of the head by an annoyed Mushu.

Seeing this, Ariel helped the crab by pulling him out of the sand, muttering apologetically, "Sorry, Sebastian."

"You okay, Sebastian?" Donald asked, worriedly.

"Ooh, my aching shell. That huge wave gave me a bruise." Sebastian groaned as he rubbed his back as Ariel placed him into the water while Melody and Aqua helped her back into the water as well.

"How'd you get washed up on the beach in the first place?" Lea asked.

"Gawrsh...maybe Nasira's attacking the ocean too." Goofy muttered worriedly, already fearing for the worst, especially since he's still a bit shaken from his sudden time-travel incident a couple of hours ago.

"Goofy, we still don't know if it is Nasira or somebody else." Mickey pointed out, "Besides, we can't jump to conclusions."

"Who's Nasira?" Flounder couldn't help but ask, peeking behind Ariel.

"Well, only Iago and Genie met her, but she's an evil Sorceress who caused problems thousands of years ago. Problem is, we have no idea if she's causing the new problems here or not." Melody explained with a shrug, adding, "All the new worries started when Mickey was having more nightmares about a black monster, and evil Sorceress with a Snake staff and an evil sorcerer."

Ven nodded and continued, "Yeah, and the reason why we came back here to Destiny Town is to figure out the answer on whether it is Nasira from Mickey's nightmares or not."

"You're having those futuristic nightmares all over again!?" Sebastain exclaimed to Mickey in shock, and the latter nodded to confirm it.

"Yep, and I've been having it for the last nearly two months." Mickey responded.

The red crab gasped in shock, before slumping in dismay, "Oh, man."

"That's terrible." Ariel softly gasped.

"And that's not the worst of it, sister." Iago muttered, "Everytime Mickey here has those nightmares, those monsters always seem wanting to eat him!"

"And the truth is...I'm very terrified of giants and giant monsters, and I really don't like the idea of being eaten by them." Mickey admitted, quivering a little.

Flounder gulped scaredly, "W-who does like being eaten?" before saying, "This kinda sounds like the story about a horrible creature under the sea, in-in the mountains and if somebody frees them,..."

While Ariel was now worried, she turned to her friend with smirking, not believing Flounder's story, "Oh, come on, Flounder. Are you saying that if a monster from a mountain in the ocean is freed, all of the Seven Seas and Atlantica would be doomed?"

"Uh, I don't know. I always cover my ears when my Mom tells that part of the story."

' _What ears?_ ' Isa thought to himself, skeptically.

"Uh-oh. Scary stories like that never predict anything good." Iago grumbled, now even more worried.

"Speaking of stories." Genie suddenly spoke up as he remembered something, "Not sure if this is true or not, but I heard there is a special cave with glowing sea shells under the sea, located in what divers who have spotted it call Shark Canyon."

"Uh...Shark Canyon?" Flounder asked, nervously. Even Sebastian gulped scaredly.

"Glowing Sea Shells?" Terra asked, blinking.

"Shells that glow so brightly, like the moon in the night clear sky." Genie continued.

"Wow...sounds awesome." Ven breathed in awe, as almost everyone else looked amazed in hearing something like that.

Lea grinned, "That sounds really cool. Wish I can see 'em."

"Me too. Even my Daddy wouldn't have seen that before." Ariel agreed.

"Yeah, me neither." Genie shrugged, sheepishly, much to Ariel's disappointment. He then quickly added, "But uh, I do have a clue on where it is." as he then magically conjoured up a sea-map, showing it off to everyone. "To get to Shark Canyon, first you have to pass through the dark Sea Forest, into the Cave of Terror and to the giant killer crab Canyon."

Sebastian quivered scaredly, while trying to say calmly, "Oh, i-is that all?" and gulped nervously again.

"They also say that the one who has a magic that stopped an evil force before can use these shells to get a better idea on a certain crisis, whether it's under the sea or on the surface." Genie concluded, adding, "Downside is that it can also be used an an ingrediant to revive people back from the dead."

"Of course there had to be a downside. There's always a downside to every ancient stories and stuff." Iago rolled his eyes, "And another downside to that is, only Mel' here and her sea-friends can locate that said place since, unlike you who can turn into a fish, the rest of us can't breathe underwater and we don't have a submarine!"

"Revive..." Mickey muttered, before gasping in realization as he turned to his friends in worry, "What if Nasira or whoever's in my dream is plotting to revive the monster? I mean, none of us really know where the monster even comes from."

"Or maybe she's lookin' to really revive Jafar." Lea added, worriedly.

"Again." Iago muttered.

"Maybe it'll be a good idea to get the shells first before the villians do. If Mickey and Lea are right, then we're in really big trouble." Aqua nodded in agreement.

"If only we can breathe underwater like they can." Donald pointed out while gesturing at Melody, Ariel, Sebastian, Flounder and even Genie. "Unless he turns us into sea-life too or at least give us the magic to breathe underwater, we're stuck."

"Selene did use her magic to help me breathe underwater when she caught me." Aqua remembered, before gazing at Genie and inquiring, "Do you think you can do the same with us until we return to the surface?"

(As shown in episode 3 of "Life DEFINATELY not Normal"-Season 2)

"Yeah, and we can do that, we can help out and search under the sea!" Ven beamed.

Genie smiled, "My powers may be semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic, but even I can help all of ya's to breathe underwater until we reach the surface."

"Yeah. Hey, Ariel. I know it's a bit much to ask, but you don't mind if you can help me and the others find Shark Canyon." Melody requested to her old-time friend.

Ariel smiled, gesturing at herself, Flounder and Sebastian, "Of course we don't mind."

"I think that ' _we_ ' includes you and me, man." Sebastian whispered to Flounder.

"Welp, looks like we're all goin' to Shark Canyon to find those Sea-Shells." Mickey declared, really looking forward to this.

"This is gonna be awesome! I've always wanted to swim around and bein' able to breathe underwater without turning into a fish or a merperson." Lea grinned excitedly.

"Uh, Shark Canyon?" Flounder repeated.

"Sounds good to me." Mushu smiled, before frowning, "Only downside is I won't be able to use my fire underwater."

"I am not, under any circumstances, goin' in there and getting wet!" Iago, being cowardly in these adventures, stubbornly declared, only to realise too late that magic flowed around him and everyone else who couldn't breathe underwater and already they could all feel the effects and was then grabbed by Goofy as they leaped into the water as a test-drive while Genie turned into a blue fish similiar shape to Flounder, only a bit bigger.

Melody in the meantime used her Locket to turn into her Mermaid form and jumped into the water to join all of her friends, smiling as they all could now breathe underwater.

"This is so cool!" Lea cheered happily.

"Well, c'mon! Let's go!" Mickey declared, already swimming ahead.

"Uh, y-you know there could be Sharks in Shark Canyon...you know, like...real, Sharks?" Flounder stuttered nervously.

"Aw, don't you worry kid. There are no Sharks in Shark Canyon." Genie told him ensuringly.

"Hey, I may be little, but I'm not stupid." Flounder pouted.

Sebastian, clinging onto Terra's shoulder, muttered scaredly, "I have a wish. I wish we weren't going on this scary adventure."

"Welcome to the club." Iago grumbled sarcastically, before asking, "And how can you sea-guys cope in swimming like this everyday? I'm already getting exhausted!" only have tape magically wrapped around his beak to shut him up by Genie. The parrot glared at the magical being who whistled innocently.

With that all shorted out, the group ventured off to Shark Canyon.

* * *

It was almost an hour and a half later as the group swum on in locating Shark Canyon that there telling each other stories while keeping an eye out for signs of danger, like Sharks for example.

"...And once Ariel hid a baby Killer Whale in her room." Sebastian continued to the group. "There's whales everywhere, man."

Lea chuckled, "Ah, that's nothin'. Just the other day, a bad guy named the Phantom Blot released a giant mutant Moth that eats guys like him."

"Oh yeah? Well, we've seen a sea-monster like," Flounder smirked and then made a sharp-toothed monster face with a bit of a blabbering monster roar, and then continued normally, "And Ariel was foolish and brave enough to be friends with him."

"Kid, you haven't even seen what I've seen in my lifetime." Iago shook his head in disbelief. "I've seen a giant three-headed lion!"

"Don't remind us." Isa deadpanned.

The group continued on, eventually passing the Sea Forest, which was darker than some of them expected and it reminded the surface group of the forest on way to Zeus' Temple in Greece before Hades had sent and released Chernabog. As they exit the place and entered the gaps of a trench, they were startled and frightened when a giant Eel suddenly appeared in front of the group.

"AAAH!" Sebastian, Iago, Mushu, Flounder, Donald and Goofy all screamed in terror.

"Oh, don't worry. It's just a giant Eel." Melody told the group as she led them passed the Eel who just watched them leave, but that was just about it.

"I guess everything is giant around here, huh?" Mickey asked, nervously with a gulp.

"Most of them are friendly giants around here." Genie ensured, much to the group's relief.

Sebastian, dizzy in relief and at the scare attack, drunkingly said, "Good. Call me a giant doctor."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Throne Room of the Palace in Atlantica, King Triton had just finished off the last of the day's paper work when he stretched his back and decided that break was needed.

"Perhaps a massage would do me a Sea of good." Triton muttered, and as he swam off, he couldn't help but wonder, "I just hope Ariel hasn't gotten herself and Flounder into trouble again, and Melody too. Where would Sebastian be, though?"

He then shrugged it off and continued onward, leaving behind the Trident in it's holder on it's own...and on guarded. Because about five minutes later, the Gray Fish snuck into the Palace room, checking around, and was relieved that no one was around, and that he had a sea-cart that he was dragging around since after his encounter with the Evil Manta he'd encountered earlier.

"Ooh! Those jewels are no good to cheer that Manta up. What'm I gonna do?" He muttered worriedly to himself. It wasn't until a shine got his attention and made him gaze at the Trident.

The King's Trident.

Seeing this almost greedily all of the sudden, the Gray Fish smirked and had an idea. Even if it was a stupid idea, he knew it would save his life. Nodding to himself, he swam up to it and gently touched it, before pulling and tugging at the Trident hard until it slid out, but it was so heavy that it dropped, taking him along with it.

"Omph!" The Gray Fish yelped as he landed on the ground with the Trident with a _**clang!**_

"Hmph!" He grunted, lifting it only by couple of inches off the floor. "Jeeze louise! This is such a heavy Trident! Wonder how anybody could use it to Trident Shoot-?"

The instant he said this, the Trident suddenly glowed and then shot out a beam of light which it bounced all over the pillars in the throne room and eventually hit the Gray Fish, zapping him as he yelped and screamed while being electrocuded. Once it stopped, he coughed, with smoke bellowing from his mouth.

"...Wow." The Fish said, weakly. Then, thinking about it, he smirked as it was powerful. "Well, at least I have something that'll save my life."

After struggling to lift the heavy Trident towards the carriage while making sure no one was watching him, and successfully placed it into the cart before dragging it away from the Throne Room and secretly out of Atlantica.

"You know, call me crazy but I hope the Evil Manta will accidently zap himself as I did with the Trident Shoot." The Gray Fish muttered to himself, only for the Trident to tip slightly and touch him, which again, triggered it's power and zapped him yet again and he screamed while being electrocuded for the second time and again coughed black smoke. "...Wow."

He glared angrily at the Trident and continued on, and screamed and yelped as the Trident repeatedly touched him and electrocuded him along the way, everyone in the Kingdom fully unaware that the King's Trident was stolen and being delivered to the Evil Manta.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Ven's group, they had just passed the Cave of Terror, which, despite the name and the scary entrance that resembled to an open-mouthed sea monster, there were no problems inside the cave and soon they reached the exit and came across a canyon...with dens filled with giant purple Crabs that were sleeping.

"Whoa...no wonder they call it the Kill Crab Canyon." Lea whispered. "There're so many of them!"

"Soon, we'll get the Glow Shells. I'll be able to get one for my father, and soon you'll all be able to save the surface world, everyone." Ariel said, excitedly as they were closer.

Sebastian on the other hand, said to the others, "And soon, these girls and mermaids will be the most unusual in the...entire ocean!" then said to Ariel, "Ariel, this is more than a Crab can hide his underwear."

"Sebastian wears Underwear?" Goofy asked, puzzled and surprised.

Wanting to make sure, Flounder, finding himself curious, lifted up Sebastian's shell and revealed a blue and white stripe underpants. This made Iago, Donald, Lea, Mushu, Genie, and even Ariel, Melody, Isa, Mickey, Goofy, Ven, Terra, Aqua and especially Flounder laugh. Annoyed, Sebastian lifted his shell back down and scowled at the younger fish, "Flounder, get outta there!"

"I never thought there'd be an _Under-Sea Wear_." Lea teased, as he and everyone else calmed down before reminding themselves where they were and knew that they had to keep silent to avoid in waking up the giant crabs.

Melody went a bit ahead, and despite Ariel, Ven and Aqua's calls, she continued on. However, the bubbles the younger mermaid left floated near one of the giant Crabs who, sensing a disturbance, woke up and saw a prey swimming off, unaware. Angry for the rude awakening and at the tresspasser, the giant crab roared as it loomed behind her, which then awoke the rest of the crabs in the chain reaction.

"Melody! Behind you!" Aqua cried out.

Too late, the half-human-half-mermaid was caught in the clutches of the giant Crab's claw as she gasped at being captured. Horrified, Ven, Aqua, Ariel, and even Terra and Genie hurried to save her, but one by one were all caught by other five giant Crabs and soon they and Melody were all tied up to Spider-Crab Web as they struggled to free themselves.

"Oh no! Fellas!" Mickey cried out, horrified. He, Lea and Isa were about to join them when Iago, Goofy and Mushu tapped their shoulders to stop them.

"Uh, guys...we're surrounded!" Iago shrieked, panicking. True to his words, he, Mickey, Lea, Isa, Goofy, Mushu, Donald, Flounder and Sebastian were trapped at the corner by another giant Crab who was looming over them, preparing to attack.

"This...not good." Isa muttered, admittedly panicking himself.

"What're we gonna do!?" Donald panicked hysterically.

Mickey gulped, before saying to his friends, knowing that panicking wasn't going to help, "C-Calm down! We'll figure somethin' out!"

"Uh, could ya at least come up with a plan in the next five seconds before we end up being sea-food?" Lea suggested, scaredly.

"Sebastian! Do something!" Flounder pleaded to their smaller crab friend who was quivering violently in fear.

Despite his fear, Sebastian nervously walked closer to the much larger Crab before an idea formed in his head. If he played along, maybe he can get the others out of this mess so that they could all escape. So, he asked, nervously, "Uh...don't I know you?"

The giant Crab made a growl that sounded like a confused, ' _Huh?_ ', which made Sebastian's plan beginning to work as he swam up, continuing, "Yeah. In fact, we're related."

Goofy and Flounder jolted in shock, not getting what was going on. Mickey, Donald, Lea, Isa, Iago and Mushu on the other hand, did and shared a glance before nodding, to keep silent while Sebastian continued rambling about the so called 'relation' and secretly and casually swum over to the trapped group, and used his claws to cut away the web, freeing Ven, Terra, Aqua, Melody, Ariel and Genie.

Once they were free, Sebastian whispered to Ven, "C'mon, man. Better make waves."

"Now's our chance." Mickey quickly whispered to his group, and they didn't need him to say it twice. So they all quickly swam as fast as they could to rejoin the others, narrowly avoiding the other Crabs in crushing them, two of which bashed each other accidently in the faces, and once they rejoined Ven and the others, they all hurriedly swam away from Crab Canyon and to safety, continuing onward to Shark Canyon.

The giant Crabs, realising that they'd been tricked, could only watch as their prey escape, as one of the snapped it's claws in frustration in a motion that was translated, ' _So close!_ '

* * *

"Man, that was close!" Ven sighed in relief a little while later once he and his friends were in a clearing and a safer part of the ocean, though closer to their destination.

"For a while there, I thought we were goners." Lea also sighed in relief.

"At least we're that much closer to Shark Canyon, and as predicted, there are still no Sharks around." Genie analyzed while having turned into a part Laturn Fish, part Submarine scanner.

Flounder, still confused, "Are you sure? Why call it Shark Canyon? Why not Seaweed Canyon? Or Guppie Canyon? I mean, if there aren't any Sharks, why is it called Shark Canyon?" only for Goofy to point below and to the group's surprise, especially Flounders, a Canyon was beneath them, with the entrance opening shaped like, ironically, a Shark.

" _That's_ why they call it Shark Canyon." Isa half deadpanned.

"...How very logic." Iago said sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah, Everybody's a critic." Mushu rolled his eyes at Iago's comment.

"Hey." Terra called up as he and most of the others already swum ahead. "You guys coming or what?"

Realising they were being left behind, the said group hurried to catch up and all of them swam towards the entrance of Shark Canyon while still making sure there were no Sharks around. Finally, they reached the bottom and to their amazement, there were multiple caves with different kinds of glowing lights coming from within. No doubt about it, they finally made it and had reached their destination. Now all that's left was to find the Glow Shells.

"They're beautiful." Aqua breathed in awe.

"Wow...it's almost like a dream." Mickey muttered, amazed as he and his friends gazed through each cave, wondering which one to pick.

Flounder peaked through another, before saying in relief and happily, "And best of all, there's no sharks."

But as the group looked and tried to decide which cave to look into before deciding to split into groups, they were all unaware that there was a problem. A giant pink Octopus, sensing intruders in it's home as well as prey, watched the group before deciding to follow Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian who all ventured into the green-lit cave. It then loomed behind them and roared, which made the six freeze up when they sensed too late that they were not alone.

Turning to see, Mickey and the others screamed before quickly swimming for their lives, with Sebastian screaming out, "Swim for your lives!"

"We're swimmin', we're swimmin'!" Goofy cried out, panicking, as the Octopus quickly chased after them. "Is it just me or does Nasira really want us dead?"

When Ven and everyone else heard the screams, they all peaked into the green cave and gasped in horror before hurrying to try and save Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian who were still chased by the Octopus.

"I don't get enough rewards for this." Iago shook his head, following his friends depsite fearing that if they made the wrong move, they were all gonna be sea-food at this rate.

"Quick! In there!" Ariel cried out as she spotted a smaller cave up ahead. She and the others hurried inside and while it was large enough for all of them to fit, it wasn't large enough for the Octopus to fit. The group reached the dead end of the small cave and panted.

"I think we should be safe for now." Mickey panted, placing his hand to his chest where his heart beated rapidly.

"I hope you're right." Flounder panted.

However, the Octopus had other ideas and stretched out one of it's tentacles to try and grasp at the trapped group who screamed before leaning against the wall behind them and held onto each other in fear, praying that the Octopus wouldn't reach them.

"We're lunch!" Goofy whimpered.

"Or maybe even dinner!" Sebastian added, quivering like mad. To make matters worse, the Octopus was thrusting and destroying rocks from the ceiling which began to crumble and fall all around them.

"Cave-in!" Mickey and Ariel cried out in horrified unison, while their friends screamed in fear.

However, apparently they won't be trapped via cave in, because all of the rocks had fallen from the ceiling and there was still enough room for the six of them to still move around...if they didn't have the problem of the giant Octopus trying to eat them.

"Wow...we're out of rocks." Donald remarked.

Goofy gazed at the Octopus and whimpered, "I wish we were out of tentacles."

Outside of the cave, Ven and the others made it and the former summoned the Emerald Sword while calling out to their trapped friends, "Don't worry, guys! We'll save you!"

"Thanks, Ven! Please stop the Octopus!" Mickey called back, having heard the other teen.

"And hurry!" Flounder added, terrified out of his mind.

"Uh, how do we stop this squid?" Iago asked, worriedly.

"I'll stop it!" Genie boldly said while turning himself into a diver with a Nun-chuck, before charging right at the Octopus, calling out, "Okay, mister touchy! No more Mr. Nice Genie!" before he twirled the weapon as though he was doing a Ninja stunt, only to be grabbed by one of the other tentacles and spun around and around and then tossed aside where he crashed into the wall near where it was.

"We have to distract somehow!" Terra grunted, after he and the others winced in sympathy to Genie's injury.

Lea looked around for any means of trying to at least make the Octopus leave until he noticed a large boulder above where the Octopus was along with several other rocks. An invisible light bulb lit up in his head and he nodded, turning to his friends with a plan.

"You guys distract squid-head there!" He instructed to most of the group, before turning to Aqua, Melody and Mushu, "You guys help me push that boulder onto him!"

When they looked up and saw what the redhead had in mind, they nodded before quickly putting the plan into motion, even though Iago sighed before reluctantedly moved to join Ven, Terra, and Isa to distract the Octopus.

While inside the cave, Mickey gazed at the fallen rocks before an idea hit him. He picked one up and with his might tossed it at the tentacle. It hit and the Octopus grunted in pain before waving it's tentacle to cool it before trying again to capture it's prey who all tried to avoid it.

"Darn it! He's not leaving!" Mickey groaned.

"And I thought my Dad was stubborn." Ariel grunted, getting really angry now.

"Welp, then we'll have to keep hittin' him 'till our friends save us!" Mickey declared, picking up another rock and repeated his attack at several other Tentacles that tried to reach him and his friends. Ariel, Goofy and Donald soon joined him in the assault and the Octopus, while stubborn, hissed in agony, and Sebastian and Flounder cheered them on.

As if the Octopus didn't have enough problems, outside of the small cave, it kept on trying and failing to capture Ven, Terra and Isa who repeatedly avoided his tentacles while trying to keep him from capturing Mickey and the others. Iago screamed as he narrowly avoided the tentacles himself, and Genie, recovering, turned into a fat, overly fashioned lady and used a hand-bag to repeatedly smack the Octopus on the head.

"You beast! Hands off those kids and I mean every one of them!" Genie scowled angrily, continuing his assault on the squid who grunted and dazed with each hit.

( **Deja vu, anyone?** )

Above them, Lea, Aqua, Melody and Mushu pushed at the boulder as hard as they could despite it being overly heavy, but they didn't give up. Finally, the giant rock was giving away along with other rocks and the sounds of the rumble and crumble alerted everyone else.

"Move quick!" Ven instructed to the others who nodded and swum out of the way, while the Octopus, hearing the rocks looked up and was horrified as an underwater rock slide was falling straight towards it. Forgetting it's meal, it swam out of the way just in time but some rocks did hit it as it swam to safety and recovery, leaving the cave all together.

"That'll teach you not to mess with us, pal!" Iago taunted the now gone over-sized squid.

"Okay, all's clear!" Lea called as he and everyone else peered into the smaller cave, relieved that Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian were safe.

The said six began to rejoin their friends when Ariel remembered something and swam back into the cave, much to the concern and confusion of their friends. Just then, she returned with two very bright and warm Glow Shells which were among the most beautiful things any of them had ever seen.

"Wow!" Ven gapped, amazed.

"Here you go." Ariel said with a warm smile, handing one of the shells to Mickey who held it in awe and gratitude.

"Gosh...Thanks, Ariel!" Mickey replied.

Ariel shook her head, "I should really thank all of you. This is going to be the best birthday present Daddy's ever had!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Sebastian shook his head with a knowing smile.

"Looks like we're one step ahead of Nasira." Mushu remarked, "Let's get outta here and head back home."

"Yeah. And then we might be able to-" Ven was cut off as the moment he touched the Shell Mickey was holding, it glowed even brighter and everyone cried out in alarm, and before they all knew it, an image entered everyone's minds, even Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian's.

* * *

 _After struggling to lift the heavy Trident towards the carriage while making sure no one was watching him, and successfully placed it into the cart before dragging it away from the Throne Room and secretly out of Atlantica, only for the Trident to tip slightly and touch him, which again, triggered it's power and zapped him yet again and he screamed while being electrocuded for the second time and again coughed black smoke. "...Wow."_

 _He glared angrily at the Trident and continued on, and screamed and yelped as the Trident repeatedly touched him and electrocuded him along the way, everyone in the Kingdom fully unaware that the King's Trident was stolen and being delivered to the Evil Manta._

* * *

As soon as it ended, everyone blinked in surprise before sharing a concerned glance.

"Gawrsh! What just happened? I think I'm seein' stars again." Goofy asked.

"I-I don't know. But I think...somethin' wrong here under the ocean." Mickey replied. He wasn't sure why, but he was convinced that it was a vision, similiar to what he saw back in Greece when Hades had just released Chernabog.

"Did I just...make that happen?" Ven asked, stunned.

Genie, knowing the answer already, said, "Ven! You touched the shell and made everyone see that something bad is indeed happening!"

"Why was that fish taking a gold Trident?" Lea quired, confused.

Sebastian gasped as he exclaimed, "What wasn't just any Trident, man. That was King Triton's Trident!"

"What!?" The students of Radiant Academy, except for Melody, all gasped.

"Oh no!" Mickey exclaimed, worriedly.

Flounder, very worried, muttered, "Boy, is the King gonna found out about this!"

"The Trident has the power to do almost anything." Melody said, very worried. "If it's in the wrong hands, it'll end up taking over the seven Seas."

"That's a bad sign." Mushu muttered, worriedly.

"We've got to get it back and fast." Terra decided, "Since we're here, it has to be us to do it."

"Easier said than done. But I'm in." Lea shrugged, "Problem is, where can we find it?"

As if to answer the question, the shell in Mickey's hand glowed again, and then shot out a beam of light like a raindow to outside of Shark Canyon and into the distance.

"I guess we go that day." Aqua surmised.

Mickey nodded, "It's almost like the shell is pointin' us straight towards it."

The group shared another look before nodding and swam to follow the direction of the light with a new rescue mission, and hoped that later on when the land dwellers returned home that the Shell would still help them solve the mystery of the Sorceress and Mickey's nightmares.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Gray Fish, while having been electrocuded all the way back to the Evil Manta, had delivered the Trident, while he grumbled, "I'm a normal fish, and I've decided I couldn't care less that I'm Electr-YEHAHA-*Cough*-Fish." while having shrieked when he was shocked by an after-shock after being shocked too many times.

"This is more than I was expecting." The Evil Manta admitted, admiring at the Trident and sensing it's powers. He grinned evilly, "Thanks to you, I have the power of domination!"

"So...that mean I'm okay to go?" The Gray Fish asked, hopefully.

"Considering you freed me and gave me this," Manta began, before pointing the Trident threateningly and warningly at the fish, answering, "Your reward is your life."

Shrinking back a little in fear, the Gray Fish nodded with an awkward smile, "I'll take that as a yes." and gulped in relief when Manta leaned back and continued to admire at his new weapon and laughed evilly.

Secretly glaring at the Evil Manta he accidently freed, the Gray Fish then swam away, still suffering a few more after-shocks, and once he was out of earshot, he complained to himself, "Gosh, doesn't that over-sized Sting-Ray make me sick!"

All of the sudden, he was then forced to the ground when a net appeared out of nowhere and captured him, causing him to cry out when he saw what just happened, "Hey!" before he was surrounded by two mermaids, a fish, a crab, and to his shock and surprise, five humans, a mouse, a duck, a dog, a dragon, a parrot and a Genie.

"Alright you! You're not gettin' away now!" Mickey angrily told the fish.

"Give us the King's Trident!" Ariel demanded.

"Yeah!" Iago added.

Realising that these guys somehow knew that he stole the Trident, the Gray Fish quickly told them, "I-I can't! The Evil Manta has it!" which made Sebastian and Flouner gasp in fear.

"The who?" Lea blinked, confused and suspicious.

"The what?" Mushu asked, equally confused and suspicious.

"T-that monster I told you guys about earlier! I knew it was real! I knew it!" Flounder quivered, terrified. The group all quickly shared shocked and horrified expressions. If what Flounder said was true, then everyone in the Ocean was in trouble.

"Just great." Iago muttered sarcastically.

Sebastian glared at the Gray Fish and scowled angrily, "You freed that evil monster and then gave him the King's Trident!?"

"I-I didn't mean to! It was an accident! H-he made me get something very valueable from the Kingdom or else he'd kill me!" The Gray Fish cried out, "And I am never going near that horrible creature again!"

Everyone gave him angry stares, which made the Fish grin sheepishly as he added, "But I can at least give you a direction to where he is."

So he told them where they could find the Evil Manta.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the group followed the direction to where the Evil Manta took residence while having left the Gray Fish in the net to later have the King arrest for treason despite his helpful advice to where the new released villian was.

"Couldn't we just at least have these guys go and warn the King and have him bring an army to stop this Over-sized Sting-Ray?" Iago asked while gesturing at Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian and even Melody. He was not looking forward in facing the Evil Manta, which also meant that there was gonna be another dangerous incident. This wasn't going to end well, he just knew it.

"There's no time for that. We have to do this ourselves." Ven told him firmly.

Flounder, trying to think positive, told Iago, "Don't worry. Things will get better."

"There it is!" Aqua pointed out to a gave where red light was shining through, and it wasn't long before she and her friends heard an unfamiliar evil laughter coming from inside.

"...Then again, things might get worse." Flounder muttered, now once again scared and worried.

"You got that right, Flounder." Sebastian muttered in agreement.

Mushu rolled his eyes before pointing out, "Hey, we'll be fine. We've done this sort of thing a thousand times already!"

Even though the group were nervous and knew that they had to stick together, they all ventured inside the cave and searched around until they came across a carven before they hid behind large rocks. They peeked up and saw the Evil Manta himself, about the size of a giant and was indeed an somewhat mutant Sting Ray, holding the Trident in the grasp of his hand.

As he was unaware of intruders.

"Now I shall rule the Seven Seas. With Triton's Trident, all shall bow before me!" Manta declared to himself, before having second thoughts and added to himself in slight amusement, "Or maybe I should have them stand on their heads instead." before laughing at the thought.

"Whoa. No wonder everybody's worried 'bout this guy." Lea whispered as he and his friends ducked to avoid in being seen. "He's creepy as hell."

Iago shuddered as he said softly, "He remains me of a fish version of Jafar in his Genie form."

"How're we gonna get the Trident from the giant Sting Ray?" Mushu whispered, worriedly.

Mickey thought hard before whispering firmly, "What we need is to have something distract him from the Trident. If he focuses on somethin' else, he'll put the Trident down which will give us a chance to take it and get outta here without being seen."

"Great idea!" Flounder whispered, before asking, "Uh...how?"

That's when Mickey had an idea, and despite that it would give them less of a chance to found out about their enemy on the surface, he pulled out the Glow Shell Ariel had given him earlier from his pockets, which everyone knew what he had in mind. With a nod, the teenage mouse risked another peek and when the Evil Manta turned his back, Mickey tossed the shell as hard as he could over before hiding again.

Hearing a small thud, Manta turned to see what it was and saw something glow. "Hmm? What's this?" He picked it up and smirked as he admired the glowing Shell. "A rare Glow Shell. That stupid fish must have dropped it. But how did it get in here?"

' _Please put it down, please put it down._ ' Mickey pleaded in his mind about the Trident. To his and everyone else's relief, Manta placed the Trident onto the ground and turned his back, his mind still onto the Glow Shell and how it got here in the first place. Now was the matter of getting the Trident without the Manta noticing.

Too bad Genie didn't really think about being patient, because being a magical being, he stretched out his arm despite Ven's hushed objection, "Genie, not yet!", and to everyone's dismay, despite him having grasped the Trident, it was still enough for the Manta to notice and saw the blue arm yank the Trident right towards the group's hiding place.

The Evil Manta, seeing 'his' Trident stolen, dropped the Glow Shell and growled in fury as he swum towards the group who realised that they were noticed.

"Can't you EVER do things right?" Iago asked angrily at Genie who shrugged apologetically, realising too late of his mistake.

"Forget that! Let's make a swim for it!" Sebastian cried out.

And that's what they all did, swimming as fast they could while the Evil Manta was chasing after the heroes to get the Trident back.

"Genie, do something quick!" Melody cried out.

"U-uh, hold this!" Genie quickly said while shoving the Trident into Terra's hands before turning and swam back to the Evil Manta while turning into a Gyradous from Pokemon. "Eat this, Evil Manta!" He declared while unleashing a Hyper-Beam at the enemy who growled before thrusting his tail at the beam, slicing it in half before smacking Genie in the face, causing the magical being to crash into the wall and crumble into pieces like a jig-saw puzzle.

"That worked really well." Isa commented sarcastically.

"Give me the Trident, or I'll crush your Genie!" Manta commanded threateningly.

Ven glared at the Manta before summoning the Emerald Sword, saying, "Wanna bet?" and then tossed it like he did to Chernabog ages ago, as it glowed in green light, much to the Evil Manta's shock as he tried to knock it back, but he missed and it hit him in the chest, causing him to scream and yell in agony, shoved back.

Genie, having recovered and back in his original form, quickly magically brought up a huge cage and slammed it right on top of the Evil Manta, trapping him inside with laser bars added to it, before adding another underwater electric oval cage on top of that.

"Evil magic proof cages!" Genie told the now trapped evil Sting Ray.

"Serves ya' right, fish-face!" Lea taunted with a grin.

The Evil Manta growled angrily and tried and failed to free himself. He was well and definitely trapped. "You poor, foolish children! You think this is the last you'll see of me?"

"Maybe not, but we won't be seeing you again anytime soon, pal!" Mickey answered. "And if we do, we'll stop you again!"

"Okay, now that the bad guy is defeated, can we go now?" Iago asked urgently.

As though remembering something, Mickey told the group, "Hold on. Still got one more thing to pick up before we go." and then swam over to where the Glow Shell was dropped, before picking it up and hurried back to his friends. "C'mon, fellas. Let's get goin'."

* * *

Not long after Ariel, Sebastian and Flounder returned the Trident to Triton and told him what happened while having placed the Gray Fish under arrest, the trio met up with their friends who had returned to the surface back on Destiny Island and Ven's group had all showered and dried up and were now meeting up with their new friends and Sebastian on the beach.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways." Terra sighed with a sad smile.

"I can't begin to thank you all enough for everything." Ariel said, also sad but knew that it was meant to be.

"Yeah, and thanks to you guys, now I know that not all humans are scary." Flounder added.

Lea shrugged, "Well, you guys helped us out too."

"We make a good team." Ven smiled, before asking, "Should it be okay that we can come and visit soon when things had calmed down?"

"I'm pretty sure the King would like that too. Now, be careful with the Sorceress and don't forget to write." Sebastian told the group wisely.

"Thanks, guys." Mickey said, waving as he and his friends began to head off, "See ya real soon!"

With that, Ven and his friends, with them(especially Melody) promising to visit again soon, made their way back to Destiny Town while Ariel, Sebastian and Flounder dove back into the sea to return to Atlantica, both groups with high hopes.

However, not all is as it seems.

* * *

Nasira grinned as was holding a Glow Shell over the lava pit before tossing it in, laughing evilly as it glowed brighter than ever.

"Only one more ingredient to go and soon my brother will return!" The evil Sorceress declared, continuing her evil laughter.

TO BE CONTINUED!

* * *

 **A/N: Things are really heating up this time. Not sure when I'll update this story again, but hopefully it'll be somewhat epic. See you real soon!**


	20. Episode 20: Jafar and Nasira Return-P1

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: This is it! The first part of the three-part episode finalie! However, there is a problem of how the final episode would turn out in two more chapters to come; I'm not sure if I should continue this series on with a season 4 or make a series finalie with a movie-length story.**

 **Guess we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, here we go!**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 20: Jafar and Nasira Return-P1.

 _It was happening again. Mickey knew for certain that he was having the nightmare again. Except something was even more different compared to the last time. Well, it was different the last time he had the terrible dream. If not worse. He was standing in the ruins of a very familiar town, buildings cracked, plants and trees wiltered, windows broken, and everything was nearly pitch-black dark. It was like a ghost town._

 _"...Is this Radiant City? No...it can't be...!" Mickey muttered to himself, horrified. Was this what would happen if...if those two evil people and the black monster would do if they succeeded in defeating him and his friends?_

Mickey?

 _An almost voiceless but familiar sound echoed in his ears and somehow sensing it was behind him, Mickey spun around and saw a welcoming but confused friend._

 _"Ven? W-what're you doin' here?" Mickey asked, as he and Ven approached each other. But as the two made to touch, Ven just simply vanished like a ghost and the area around him rippled like a space-time disorientation. "Huh?"_

 _He then found that the very similiar thing repeated as more and more voiceless voices echoed around him, calling out his name. Mickey spun around and saw many other familiar but confused faces. First was Terra, then was Aqua, then was Donald, then was Goofy, then was Lea, then was Isa, and soon pretty much all of Mickey's friends appeared and disappeared and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't eeven touch them._

 _His heart began to ache in the heart-stopping realization he didn't want to believe. Was everyone dead? Were they going to die?_

 _Suddenly everything went pitch-black and then a spot-light hit him and, to Mickey's confusion, all of his friends returned, but all looked ghostly and they were looking around in utter confusion and scared and he shared those feelings. Suddenly sensing movement again, Mickey spun around and his eyes widened as the very monster that'd been haunting his dreams appeared, but for some reason, it didn't make any movements._

 _Iago then somehow materialized in front of him, but payed no attention, because emerging from the darkness, was the tall sorceress, but unlike the previous times, Mickey could now see what she really looked like. She was tall and thin with an cruel and evil expression, and the Snake Staff in her hand, her black long hair and dark red dress. She looked Arabian._

 _"N-Nasira!?" Mickey suddenly heard Iago exclaim in fear and when he looked back and forth between the two, his heart froze in fear._

 _"S-So it IS Nasira! That's what she looks like!" Mickey exclaimed, taking a step back. He and somehow the others gasped, even as Iago couldn't hear them, when the Sorcerer emerged; a tall man in black robes and Arabian Turban of sorts that looked like a bit of a horned hat and jewel in the middle stood with a goatee._

 _Iago seemingly recongised him because he exclaimed in absolute horror, "JAFAR!" before nervously adding in a squeaked apologetic tone, "...Buddy?"_

 _The Sorcerer made no comment, and instead his eyes glowed like a demons and flared out fire at Iago and Mickey and even their friends who quickly shield themselves and soon the entire area was covered in flames, but Mickey not only found himself unharmed, but his friends disappeared again and there were no screams or noises of agony. Instead, he heard an evil laughter as he slowly looked up, to see the monster looming over him, but it seemed see-through, because from within the beast, was a figure of a familiar cloaked man and soon it became clear that the laughter was familiar._

 _But Mickey didn't get the chance to fully identify the figure, because the monster became fully visible and then reached out to grab him and Mickey's eyes widened in terror when he soon found himself engulfed by the hand..._

* * *

Mickey jolted upright in bed, and panted too quickly as his heart hammered in his chest. He felt slightly disorientated and sweaty. He shakily placed a hand to his forehead try to calm himself down until his eyes widened in realization.

So it was Nasira he'd been seeing in his nightmares, and to make things worse, the Sorcerer was Jafar. Lea and Iago were right; Nasira is still alive and she was attempting to revive her brother again.

But that still left the question of what was the monster and who was inside it.

Little did Mickey know at that same moment, as did they know very little right now, Ven, Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Donald, Goofy, Mushu and Iago all had that very same dream.

* * *

It has taken some effort to avoid being seen by the Turks and the ShinRa soldiers-again-but the Phantom Blot, being the clever mastermind, managed to evaded the ShinRa Company and was now back in Radiant City. In fact, he was chasing after a familiar elderly duck, Scrooge, who was panting as he held some kind of jewel in his hands, running all the way to Radiant Academy's back door, finding himself cornered by the criminal who loomed over him.

"Give me the Arabian Ruby." Blot ordered him darkly, before aiming a punch at Scrooge who ducked-No pun intended-just in time and leaped into the hole the Phantom Blot created and continued to try and make his escape.

* * *

Inside the lounge of the Academy, Mickey told his friends about the latest nightmare that officially confirmed their suspicions. He'd been admittedly shocked, however, when they told him something important.

"You all had the same nightmare too?" Mickey asked, stunned.

The nods from Ven, Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Donald, Goofy, Mushu, and Iago confirmed the answer, while Melody, Cloud, Zack, Aerith, Tifa, Reno, Rude, Elena, Cissnei, Girl-Terra and even Reynn and Lann all looked concerned.

"I couldn't figure out how or why, but it almost felt real. I even saw you guys there, but when I tried to reach any of you...you just disappeared and that's when-"

"Same thing happen to me. And then at that moment, that lady and that old guy appeared." Terra cut Ven off, then turned to Iago and asked, "They were Nasira and Jafar, weren't they?"

Iago shivered in fear, "Yeah, and from the looks of things, none of them changed even one bit."

"That's what happened to me too." Lea spoke up, and he did look rather pale. "Man, that had to be the freakiest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. The worst nightmare I've ever had."

"So most of us all had the same dream and now we know for certain Nasira is indeed trying to revive Jafar. The question is, how?" Aqua concluded, gazing lower in even greater concern. "And more importantly, what about that monster?"

Goofy shuddered, "Gawrsh, it kinda looked like he was made out of ink."

"Yeah, that's what I noticed too. Like he was created or something." Isa nodded in agreement.

Ink. Now that Goofy and Isa mentioned it, the more Mickey thought of the mysterious figure that was strikingly familiar, the more the monster itself was made out of ink. Just like-

The sound of the door slamming cut Mickey's train of thoughts as he and the others looked up in alarm and were quite surprised to see that Scrooge was leaning against the door, panting after having to run like he did and sweating in fear and terror at the close door.

"Uncle Scrooge?" Donald asked, confused and surprsied. He hadn't expected his uncle to suddenly arrive. He didn't even get a phone call that Scrooge was coming for a visit either.

Neither did anyone else.

"Hey, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Lea inquired, noticing how terrified Scrooge looked.

"It's terrible!" Scrooge pleadingly explained, "I'm being followed by that criminal Blot who wants ta steal somethin' I've just found!"

"The Phantom Blot!?" Everyone exclaimed in shock and dismay.

"That guy again?" Mushu groaned.

Iago groaned even louder, "How many times do we have to stop that stupid Ink-Guy and call the Turks to arrest him? What'd we have to do to get 'im to stop? Lock him up in a chest and toss him off a cliff!?"

"Iago!" Ven scowled.

"What'd you find that the Blot wants badly?" Cloud carefully asked Scrooge as he and everyone else gathered around him to see of Scrooge was okay.

Donald's Uncle looked around carefully before gesturing at the group to come closer before he showed them a large diamond shaped ruby the size of a hand in his own hands, sparkling slightly, while he explained, "I was on me latest 'venture ta find this jewel, the ancient Arabian Ruby that's been lost for many years. But when I 'ttemped to hand it over to the museum here in Radiant City, that Blot found me and now wants it fer 'imself!"

While Scrooge had been explaining this, Donald and Iago both eyed the jewel in amazement and greedily, leaning closer and closer to it as though they were hypnotized, enticed.

"Hey!" Reno snapped, causing both of them to yelp while the redhead continued, having noticed their enticed state, "Snap of it, you two!" while Donald shook his head vigorously and Iago whistled innocently and apologetically.

"Why would the Phantom Blot want with that jewel?" Tifa inquired while placing her hands on her hips.

"Probably to sell it and get rich or somethin'. You know that guy is unpredictable." Zack shrugged with one shoulder.

"I think we should call the Turks to surround the Academy since the Blot is here looking for that jewel." Terra suggested, "We already have enough problems as it is, so we better make this quick."

"What do ye' mean 'nough problems as it is?" Scrooge asked, skeptically. He jumped slightly as Genie emerged from the Lamp and magically turned himself into Sherlock Holmes.

"It's elementary, my dear McDuck. We have a world-threatening problem from an old Sorceress who was meant to be dead for thousands of years as were her twice as evil twin brother." Genie told him, and then magically conjoured up a piece of paper, unrolling it to reveal two pictures of both Nasira and Jafar on a single 'WANTED' poster. "The evil duo; The M'lady Trickser Nasira and the Senor-Psychopath Jafar!"

Scrooge only became more skeptical, as he pointed out, "I thought Genies were t'e only ones that were immortal."

"That doesn't mean the dead can stay dead." Genie friendly elbowed him, though accidently causing Scrooge to lose his grip on the Ruby that was quickly caught by Mickey who held it.

"Don't worry, Scrooge. Even though we still have no idea where those Nasira is, she hasn't revived Jafar yet, and we haven't lost a single battle yet." Mickey told him confidently. But for a split second, the room went dark and when the lights went back on, his hand felt lighter and to his and everyone else's shock, the Arabian Ruby was missing.

He looked around quickly while crying out in shock, "It's gone!"

"And the Blot strikes again." Iago nonchalantly declared.

"Oh no!" Scrooge wailed at this realization.

"Don't worry, Scrooge! It's not the end of the world." Mickey quickly tried to calm the dismayed elderly duck down.

"YES it is!" Scrooge shouted, before running out of the door, yelling, "I gotta get back to my Money Bin!" and left the Academy without a goodbye now that his prized find was now gone.

"Money Bin?" Mushu and Melody asked, skeptically.

"It's a long story." Aerith shook her head.

"That's where he keeps his money. He doesn't live too far from it." Zack added.

Iago rubbed his wings together, saying almost too happily as he said to himself dreamingly, "A duck after my own heart."

"Hey. I think the Blot left behind a trail." Elena spoke up as she noticed several ink blots on the floor which lead towards an opened window.

Knowing what needs to be done, Ven nodded to himself and then told his friends of a new plan, "Okay. Here's what we're gonna do; Me, Terra, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Genie, Iago and Mushu will follow the Blot and get that Ruby back, the rest of you guys meet up with Shantotto and learn more about Nasira and that black monster with the Glow Shell."

"Be careful, guys. Nasira could be out there somewhere in town." Cissnei warned, worriedly.

Lea grinned, "Ah, it'll take more than that stupid ink-guy to stop us." before teasingly added, "Maybe we can even use Mushu to melt the guy into a giant ink blot."

This only made his friends groan at this comment.

* * *

Half an hour later, Ven's group flew on Reddy while following the trail that the Blot left behind before Mickey saw that it ended in a building with Neon-Lights that looked like a Day and Night Club. They landed and with Genie returning to the Lamp, the students, Iago and Mushu ventured inside the dark-light dining area of the Club which looked more like a Resturant for thugs, because there were many people in identical coats and gangster hats, with only their red-glowing suspicious eyes visible.

This made the group nervous as they walked past carefully, hoping to not cause any trouble and felt chills in their vains while the other costumers watched them suspiciously.

"Uh, h-hiya, pal." Mickey greeted nervously, "G-good to see ya."

"Hey, how's it goin'?" Lea nervously waved with a nervous grin.

"Hey there." Ven echoed, twice as nervous.

"Great day, huh?" Terra nodded to the suspicious people.

"Great Coat. I like it." Isa added, somehow better in hiding his nervousness than his friends.

Donald cringed before nervously saying to another gangster, "Uh...Nice hat."

Unfortunately, Goofy couldn't think of a nice and careful comment, and instead scaredly pleaded, "Please don't kill us." only to be yanked by Mickey and Ven away from the group he spoke to and all of them found an empty table to themselves in a circle, cringing.

Once in a bit of a safe-ish distance, Goofy leaned across to his friends and whispered scaredly, "Sure is a creepy place."

"You're telling me." Donald scaredly agreed.

"Tell me about it." Ven nodded.

"Yeah, no kiddin'." Lea shuddered.

"No objections here." Isa added.

"Ditto." Terra nodded.

"Really freaky." Mushu shuddered.

"I agree." Iago quivered scaredly.

Genie poofed carefully from the Lamp and while he dressed up like a gangster, even he shuddered in fright, "Got the goose bumps here."

Mickey shuddered, cringing, "Hah...I'll say."

"You say something, mouse?" An unfamiliar and threatning deep voice demanded as a shadow loomed over the group and there stood a ridiculously tall and muscled man in a suit that looked a bit too small on him. He had a sapphire coloured hair and perching eyes. He looked so big that he might as well dwarf Reno's best friend Rude in many ways.

The man leaned over to the group and his question caused the supicious gangsters to stand up and begin to surround them and when Mickey didn't answer, he was grabbed by the tail and left dangling while he was lifted to be met with the man eye to eye.

"I am speaking to you, _mouse_!" The man, who's tag name was seen on his suit which read "Azul", grunted.

"That's Mickey Mouse." Mickey corrected, before he shuddered as Azul growled like a furious and hungry predetor. He then quickly told the scary big man in hopes to talk his and the others' way out of danger, "Now, now. We don't want any trouble. Right, fellas?"

However, despite Ven, Lea, Isa and Terra wanting to help Mickey, they were pulled under the table by the others to hide from the scary man to avoid a fight even though Genie made preparations to butt in just in case.

The teenage mouse sheepishly corrected to Azul, "Well...I don't want any trouble."

"But if I give you some, what are you going to do about it, little mouse?" Azul challenged.

Seeing how there were no alternatives and then feeling and remembering the sticky-tape he burrowed from art class to fix something up earlier and forgot to put it back, Mickey thanked his lucky stars as an idea hit him. So he declared, "Oh, I guess I'll just have to do..."

He quickly then escaped Azul's grasp and used the type to tie up the man, covering him up like a Mummy in such quick speed that Azul didn't have time to register what just happened. Mickey then stood onto the table once he was done and finished to the man, "...That!" and blew his lucky tape as though he blew off the smoke from a pistol.

Now stuck and unable to get himself out in this sticky situation, the now very embarrassed and sheepish Azul just grinned before tip-toing away that made him look like a mummified ballerina.

"It's okay, fellas. I've saved us. Danger's gone." Mickey told his friends who emerged from underneath the table while he casually leaned against the Table number sign.

Suddenly the group became entrapped when the circuler seat locked them inside and caught them in some kind of triangle cube as they'd been aware of the Blot on the glass roof above them and had pulled a lever which trigged the trap.

"Or not." Mushu muttered worriedly.

The floor then opened up and they all fell and slide through a tunnel, screaming while being sucked in until they found emerged from the floor in a deep metal round area of some kind of lab. The cube then loosened itself and freed the group who all slumped onto the floor.

"What a lousy ride." Lea grumbled, rubbing his head.

"So, we meet again." A familair voice spoke from above. When the group looked up, they saw the Phantom Blot leaning against the railing near some bottons and such along with a lever as he declared evilly while pulling a lever, "For the last time, I assure you."

Suddenly the group became trapped by their legs as chained locks locked them to the floor and no matter what they did, they couldn't pull themselves out.

"Now I've got the Arabian Ruby and it's all _mine._ " The Phantom Blot continued as he held out the Jewel he'd stolen to the group.

"Give that back to us!" Ven demanded, glaring angrily.

"That belongs to the Museum!" Mickey added.

"This guy really doesn't know when to quit." Mushu shook his head in irritation.

Iago glanced at him and said sarcastically, "You should open up a 'The Obvious' Club."

The Blot ignored the accusions and told the trapped group evilly, "Well, it's time for me to go and time for you brats to become the biggest Ink Blots in history." while pushing a botton and then three huge giant pen cannons appeared surrounding the group and they opened up while pouring huge liquids of ink down and it slowly but quickly began to flood the area Ven and his friends were trapped in, realising that the Blot was going to drown them in a pool of ink.

"Why you!" Terra grunted as he, Ven, Lea and Isa struggled to free themselves again while Mickey, Donald, Iago, Mushu and Genie quivered in horror and Goofy, being the clueless one, just eyed it in confusion.

"Farewell...although I know you won't." Blot waved as he made his escape when his Blimp which he fixed up came to pick him up and he flew away while laughing evilly...only for it to suddenly become entrapped by red smoke which began to engulf him. "What!?" He exclaimed, before yelling out in alarm as he and his blimp were completely covered and the smoke then flew away into the distance.

"Hey. He disappeared!" Goofy exclaimed as he and his friends saw what happened.

"What happened?" Ven asked, shocked.

"Uh...hate to be the one to deliver bad news but I think that smoke has Nasira's name written all over it." Iago scaredly thought.

"But if she's already here, why did she kidnap the guy who stole the Arabian Ruby?" Ven asked, confused.

"Maybe she needs the Jewel to revive Jafar?" Genie shrugged in realization.

Lea by then grunted, "Can't we just forget about that for a moment and worry about the fact that we're about to drown in a pool of ink!?"

"He has a point." Isa deadpanned.

"What're we gonna do!?" Donald exclaimed hysterically. He didn't want to die. He was too young to die and plus he had a date with Daisy next week!

"Hey, how'd you know that?" Donald asked in annoyance to the Authoress(Me), breaking the fourth wall.

I rolled my eyes and pointed out to him, "Because I'm the one doing the writing here."

"Well, don't just sit there! Save us!"

"All right, all right. I was getting there before you interrupted." I told him. Anyway, back to the story.

Mickey then had an idea and turned to their magical friend, "Genie! Think you can get us out and turn off the ink?"

"I think turning off the ink is the first part on the list." Genie suggested while magically created a ball before carefully aimed and tossed it upward in hopes of finding the off-button. Unfortunately, there was no off button and instead the ball bounced on three more buttons that instead requested for even more ink. This caused the cannons to burst out and break, flowing gallons of Ink and increased the speed of the flood.

"Wrong idea, you stupid lunk-head!" Iago shouted accusingly, before he and everyone else were flooded by the Ink and it didn't stop there. Due to no one being around, the entire building became flooded until it couldn't handle the pressure and then before anyone knew it, it bursted out ink like a fountain.

Fortunately, Genie freed himself and his friends, but they were all now screaming as they surfed on him like a surfboard down the streets before the ink flood finally stopped and they slid and landed on the ground with a thud and into a small pile. As they began to recover, Scrooge stood in front of them, while shaking off ink from his feet.

"So, ye got my Arabian Ruby back, did ye?" Scrooge asked, expectingly.

"Well, uh...nope." Goofy replied, apologetically.

"Sorry, man." Mushu shrugged, with the others nodding in apologetic agreement.

"Aw, we failed you, Scrooge." Mickey sighed guiltily.

Lea sighed, "Worse part is, we think Nasira kidnapped that guy so even she has that Jewel now."

"Nasira? Now don't be ridiculous." Scrooge shook his head, not believing that tall tale.

"Sir, it's true. She's an evil Sorceress who has to be stopped before she revives her brother Jafar." Ven urgently told him.

Just then, before anyone else could continue the important conversation, more red smoke filled up the sky like dark red clouds and began to cover Radiant City much to the alarm of the group. Then they heard a crash and the sound of motorcycles coming from behind the group. When Ven and his friends turned to look, their eyes widened as the gangsters from the building were now driving towards them in high speed, leaving them with one second to dodge out of the way, though Iago's tail was run over and briefly yanked, causing him to cry out in pain. To the group's horror, they were chasing after Scrooge who was quickly running away.

"Uncle Scrooge!" Donald cried out.

To make things more completely shocking were that on three head Motorcycles were three familiar silver-haired young men, and Ven's group immediately recongised them.

"Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz!?" The group exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

"Nasira's magic is behind all of th-Yeow!" Genie was cut off when he was run over by three more motorcycles was flat like a pancake with tyre tracks on his back...again. "...This." He finished, weakly.

"Do they even have a driver's license yet?" Lea exclaimed, unable to believe that Nasira was now brainwashing people, while a little surprised that it wasn't happening to him or his friends yet. He then gasped and said worriedly, "Wait! That means Nasira's gonna brainwash everybody!"

"That means everybody at the Academy are in danger!" Mickey exclaimed in horror.

The group turned to Iago and Terra demanded him, "You've been there when Aladdin destroyed Nasira, right? How can we stop her?" as he grabbed the parrot by the tail and glared at him angrily.

"He just whacked Jafar's half-revival form with a sword before she escaped. Ask Genie, he'll tell ya!" Iago scaredly told the young man.

"HEEEEELLLLPPPP!" Scrooge screamed, as he was grabbed by Loz and carried away by the student of Galbadian Academy. "Lemme go, ye bad-mannered young man!"

"Genie! You take Lea, Isa, Donald, Goofy and Mushu back to the Academy to warn and save the others! We'll rescue Scrooge!" Ven quickly ordered him with determination.

"Be careful, guys!" Lea warned them just before Genie teleported himself, the redhead, Isa, Donald, Goofy and Mushu away to Radiant Academy, but Lea did rechieve the promised nods from Ven, Terra and Mickey while Iago groaned.

Mickey then whistled out for Reddy who picked him, Ven and Terra up while Iago scaredly followed before landing on Reddy, quivering in fear due to having been silently ordered to help rescue Scrooge. However, to make things more complicating, metallic wings extended from the motorcycles and allowed the three brain-corrupted Galbadian Students and the gangsters to take flight.

"Did Nasira know about all of us tryin' to stop her?" Mickey asked, worriedly.

Scrooge shook in fear and quivered as he was taken higher and higher above ground and he knew that if he fell, he was a dead duck. Just then, while they flew over Radiant Forest, Scrooge was then plucked out of Loz's hand by Ven's group who caught him safely and began to fly away.

"After them!" The brain-washed Kadaj ordered.

"Hang on, Scrooge! This is where we lose them!" Terra told Scrooge as they turned back and dodged the brainwashed group, turning back to return to Radiant Academy to safety.

But as they passed the Gangsters and began to make their escape, flying over the river, one of the Gangsters points a finger at the water which it sprouts out magic and caused the water to shoot up like a whirlpool-tornado that easily caught up to the group and swallowed up Scrooge who screamed while trying not to drown.

"Scrooge!" Mickey screamed, horrified.

"That's how Jafar caught the Sultan and Al' off-guard when Abis Mal found him!" Iago shrieked in paralyzing fear, realising that the Gangsters were not even real. "Hope it's not him in those Gangsters disguises...!"

"Reddy, we have to go back!" Ven urgently told the red Carpet who spun around and turned back to try and rescue Scrooge the second time.

But as the group reached to grab him, unfortunately the Whirlpool sucked all of them in before it spat Mickey, Ven and Iago out where they all crashed into the rougher part of the river, being carried away and then entered a watery fork in the road. Ven was carried off to the one on the right and deeper into the forest while Mickey was carried to the one leading towards a waterfall. Iago managed to get himself out and onto dry land, coughing, but then saw that Mickey was still trapped on the waterfall-path river and gasped in horror.

Mickey though managed to grab hold a rock and pulled himself half-way out, coughing out water that nearly got into his lungs. However, a brainwashed Yazoo laughed like a mad man as he appeared over Mickey before kicking the teenage mouse off the rock and back into the water, where he then began to fall down the waterfall towards his death.

"Hang on!" Iago screamed as he flew in and with as much strength as he could, caught his friend by the arm with his talon and with strained struggle, flew himeslf and the unconscious teenager away from the sharp rocks before he quickly became too exhausted and both of them crashed into the safer river which carried them away.

The brainwashed trio gritted their teeth in anger as they saw what had happened and made to follow, but were gestured to let the duo go for now as the Gangsters landed on the ground along with trio who got off their bikes. The gangsters then melted into magic and morphed into a single being into that of a tall woman with a Snake Staff, one that the captured Terra recongised as he and Scrooge now sat, tied up after being drifted to the shore.

"No...Mickey...! Ven...!" Terra gasped, horrified. He then turned to glare angrily at the woman, yelling furiously, "Nasira! Why!?"

"Oh, so you know my name. That is no surprise." Nasira smirked evilly as she calmly approached the captured duo, before frowning in annoyance, "Of course Aladdin's former Genie and my brother's traitorous parrot had to go and tell you and your friends about me."

Terra growled, "What is it that you want!? Are you trying to revive Jafar?"

"Oh, I already did." Nasira chuckled nastily. At Terra and Scrooge's shocked gasp, she continued, "He should be at your Academy right now to capture that Genie to prevent him and your friends from interfering from ruining our plans to rule this world, starting with recreating Agrabah as our perfect headquarters. I've seen what your little friend Ventus had done to Chernabog and Hades, along with the help of you and your true love."

"So you knew we'd stop you since you saw what happened months back." Terra realised with wide-eyes.

"But now I have succeeded and once I brainwash all minds except for those who have a strong will to resist my power, all that's left is to create the beast made of Ink and not even Ventus will stop me!" Nasira informed.

"...You're going to use the Phantom Blot since he's made out of Ink...and what about the Arabian Jewel?"

"In order to create the Ink Beast out of the Phantom Blot, I needed that Ruby for my plans. Jafar and I plotted this almost immediately after I revived him." Nasira's grin widened, before leaning further down to Terra and placed a hand onto his cheek almost hungrily, "As for you...Terra, was it? You would make a fine bodyguard for me. I've always wondered if I had a man as handsome as you as my slave."

Terra grunted and struggled to free himself, but was it no use. All he could do was glare angrily, while silently praying that everyone else at the Academy wouldn't have been brainwashed and could do something to stop Nasira and Jafar before they turned the Phantom Blot into a monster.

* * *

Meanwhile, Genie's group had just landed in the School's gardens, with Lea saying to Genie and Mushu, "You find Miss Farron and warn her, we'll find my cousin and our other friends!" before he, Isa, Donald and Goofy nodded and then took off to find the others.

"Hey, hey! Why can't we go together?" Mushu called back, but by then the two teenagers had already entered the building.

"I think this is a bit of mistake." Genie muttered, worriedly. "Just hope Ven and the others had saved Scrooge and are on their way back by now."

"Yeah and the others haven't been brainwashed yet either." Mushu added, only to scream in horror as suddenly a huge herd of black window spiders came skittering towards him and Genie who leaned back. "SPIDERS!"

Think quickly, Genie morphed on a hazmat suit with a hosed bug-sprayer, saying almost ominously, "Things are about to get ugly." and sprayed the spiders with the killer fumes.

Unexpectedly, the spiders reared back and reformed into a huge towering being...and transformed into a very alive Sorcerer, the same one even Mushu saw in the nightmare last night!

"Jafar!" Genie exclaimed in shock.

"It's the nightmare man!" Mushu whimpered, hiding behind and clinging onto Genie's shoulder.

"Sorry to cancel your rescue efforts, boys." Jafar mocked an apology before declaring in pure anger and hatred, "But I can't have dumb Genies and new brats mucking about _ruining my plans_."

Mushu quivered before whispering to Genie, "Oh, man! This is worse than when Hades freed Chernabog!"

"Now, don't you worry, Mushu. If Ven could stop Hades and Chernabog, even he can stop Jafar and his crazy sister." Genie whispered back. Too bad he spoke too soon, because Jafar's hands turned into that of fire-serphants which spat out fire at the duo who were briefly charred black. Genie and Mushu both wheezed before the former admitted, "But that doesn't mean it'll be easy."

Jafar just laughed, "You always were good for a laugh."

"Oh yeah?" Genie challenged before he morphed into a godly being similiar to Zeus and fired Lightning Bolts at Jafar, hoping to at least paralyze him or even turn him into an ant or something. When the smoke cleared, in Jafar's place was a crater.

Genie panted before laughing heroically, "Who's laughing now?"

Spoke too soon again, Genie.

Jafar's evil laughter echoed before he rematerialized from the crater and smoke, once again towering over the shocked duo and answered, "Why, I believe it's me."

The next thing the duo knew, Jafar zapped them both and were both defendless as Genie was quickly entrapped inside a glass ball with a Spider Lock on it, and Mushu imprisoned in a cage hanging from a tree which could only be unlocked from the outside.

The evil revived Sorcerer stretched, "This is much easier now that Aladdin isn't here. It's a pity that Princess Jasmine is gone as well." He then grinned as he made his way into the Academy, "Perhaps I shall revive her to make her my queen, just as the Genie had revived that little red lizard and Iago."

"I'm a fire-breathing Dragon, for pete's sake!" Mushu shouted, feeling insulted. Mentally, he was panicking.

' _C'mon Ven, Mick' and Ter'! If the others get caught, you're the only ones that can save us!_ ' The small dragon prayed in his mind.

* * *

Back with Aqua and the others, Shantotto had already arrived and as she studied the Glowing Stone with her magic, she frowned in concern before gazing up at the group.

"With such an unfortunate fast state, I'm afraid preventing Jafar's ressurrection is already too late." The Tarutaru informed, much to the group's shock and horror.

"So...that crazy lady who's s'posed to be dead already brought her insane brother back?" Reno muttered, shocked and horrified.

"I guess that explains the dark red clouds that covered up the sky just minutes ago." Cloud said as he gazed out at the window in great concern and worry. He then turned back to his friends and informed them, "We have to warn everyone and fast."

"Just when we already have the Phantom Blot causing problems all over again." Zack groaned.

Shantotto's frown deepened, as she gazed at the Glowing Shell again, informing them, "It is far worse, for as part of Nasira's evil plot, the Arabian Ruby is the key in transforming and creating a beast out of the Phantom Blot."

"What!?" Everyone else exclaimed in shock and horror.

"The beast inside Mickey Mouse's dream, is without a doubt the criminal's future form, it would seem." She continued.

"So the Phantom Blot is that monster Mickey saw in his dreams for several weeks, because Nasira and Jafar are going to use him to take over the Agrabah or even the world." Aqua realised, horrified.

Reno groaned in dismay, "Ah, hell. Why the crap didn't we see this sooner!?"

"Damn it!" Zack cursed, punching the table with his fist. "This is Hades freeing Chernabog all over again!"

"I just hope Ven and the others will be back soon." Melody muttered, worriedly. She and the other girls jumped when the doors slammed open and then sighed in half relief that Lea, Isa, Donald and Goofy came rushing in.

"You guys okay!?" Lea cried out worriedly, as he all but smothered Reno in a tightening hug in great big relief, while Donald hugged Daisy in relief and Isa and Goofy both panted.

"L-Lea? What happened? Where are Ven and the others?" Reno asked, startled.

"They've gone to rescue Scrooge who was kidnapped by Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz and a bunch of gangsters who were all brainwashed by Nasira!" Goofy quickly answered, nearly going into a hysterical breakdown.

"She even got the stupid Blot and the Arabian Ruby for some reason!" Isa added.

"Yeah, Shantotto already told us when she looked through the Glow Shell." Elena informed, much to Lea, Isa, Donald and Goofy's shock and horror, while the teenage-blond-haired girl continued, "Bad news is, Jafar's already back and now they're going to use the Phantom Blot to turn him into the monster Mickey saw in his nightmares."

"What!?" The four of them exclaimed, even more horrified.

"Then that means Ven, Mickey,Terra and Iago are in bigger trouble! WegottameetupwithGenieandMushuandwarneverybodyelsebeforeNasiraandJafarbrainwashthemandallofusorwe'llenduptheirslavesfortherestofourlives!" Donald hysterically screamed so fast that his words were all mumbled up and no one could even understand what he was saying.

An awkward pause, with crickets chirping in the background.

"Uh, could you repeat that more slowly?" Zack requested awkwardly.

"I think he means we're in deep crap if we don't get our butts movin' right now." Reno worriedly suggested despite having a zero idea on what Donald was babbling about. But he at least got the idea that if they didn't move now, they're screwed.

"Pretty sure you're right about that." Rude nodded in agreement.

"We should go warn the Headmasters and evacuate the Academy. I'm really worried about the children." Aerith informed them.

"And we should meet up with Genie and Mushu. They shoulda warned Miss Farron by now." Goofy added.

Donald glared them, pouting, "Hey, what's what I said."

Suddenly, Shantotto held up her staff and magically created a barrier around herself and everyone else who jumped startled, before a darker magic was reflected and bounced off. Once it was clear, the group looked up to see where the dark magic had come from and they saw their answer as Jafar stood, in normal human height.

"It's him!" Aqua gasped, recongising the Sorcerer as the man from the shared Nightmare.

"Man, he's more ugly than in the nightmare." Lea whispered, cringing as he'd been too afraid to say it out loud.

Jafar smiled evilly as he told the younger group, "If you all plan on leaving, I'm afraid that is out of question. As it happens, I can't have any brats similiar to the street rat stopping me and my dear sister Nasira."

He then turned his gaze to Shantotto, and added, "Same to you, little magical imp. You are questionable with magic that is able to block my own."

"If you really think you will turn us into tools, then you are among many of evil minded fools." Shantotto sneered back.

"You're the ones who are fools. Do you really think you will stop me and Nasira from taking over Agrabah and the world?" Jafar growled.

Shantotto just smirked and chuckled, "You've both the garb of a jester and a wit of one! I could laugh at you for days before being done."

"Uhhhhhh...I don't think laughin' at this guy is such a good idea." Lea said scaredly.

"You dare to laugh at me, you little dwarf?" Jafar hissed, becoming more and more furious. He then raised up his hand and blasted a huge ball of fire at the group who most of them screamed in terror before bracing themselves for the impact.

Fortunately, Shantotto created another barrier which blocked the fire and saving the others. While she was at it, she then created a portal of light behind the group who saw this and then turned questioningly at Shantotto who nodded, silently telling them to enter it quickly.

Despite worrying for everyone else in the Academy, the group nodded and began to hurry inside. However, it seems that Jafar was on step ahead, because only Lea, Elena, and Goofy managed to get through before the evil Sorcerer used more fire to block everyone else from even entering while weaking Shantotto who cried out and then she was forced through herself but vanished completey.

"Reno! Isa!" Lea cried out, trying to reach his cousin and best friend, but was too late as the portal closed and he, Elena and Goofy were then flown further into the portal and soon they emerged into a familiar forest, before the portal closed up despite the redhead jolting up and hurried over, "No!" but was too late.

All Lea could do was just stand there for a moment, before he fell to his knees and while he tried to hold in the urge to yell and scream, he did punch the ground in sheer frustration, but stopped when both Elena and Goofy placed comforting hands on his shoulders. The redhead didn't say anything. He just looked at them, and even with tears in his eyes, he could see Goofy's sorrowed expression and tears forming in Elena's eyes.

What could they do now?

* * *

Ven didn't know how long he was out, or even if he was still alive. All he was aware of were voices, and someone shaking him by the shoulder.

"...tus...entus...Ventus...!" A familiar voice, sounding far away, but close, was calling out.

It was so familiar that Ven knew it was one he couldn't disobey. He slowly blinked his eyes open, feeling cold and wet but his vision finally cleared as a familiar Wutaiian concerned face hovered over him.

"...Tseng?"

* * *

Mickey and Iago had washed up on the shore of the river, coughing and spluttering water after they finally regained consciousness before they both shared a glance.

"You okay, Mick'?" Iago asked, uncharacteristically very worried.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Mickey replied, before asking, "Did ya save me?"

"Well, who else woulda save ya from the Waterfall? I think Ven ended up on another river and into the forest while you and I were stuck heading towards in nearly getting mushed with holes." Iago pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

Mickey sighed, "Good point. Thanks, Iago." before quickly realising, "Our friends are in trouble! We gotta head back to the Academy and fast!"

But as he was about to move, Iago went over him and pointed out gravely, "Uh, in case you forgot, since Nasira already brainwashed those silver-haired jerks from Galbadian Academy, there's at least a 95% chance that almost everybody's brainwashed and our pals who aren't are probably caught by now! I mean, she IS Nasira and Jafar IS Jafar! We are you, a kid with a green sword, and me. Even that won't be enough this time, pal."

As much as he didn't want to believe it, Mickey realised with a heartache that Iago was right. Nasira did catch them off-guard and now it was already too late. Distraughted, devastated and in ultimate defeat, Mickey just hugged himself and buried his face in his arms, trying not to cry.

"I had a feeling I would find others lost among a new unusual situation that has left me in a confusing state." A smooth, deep and very well mannered voice that was also chilling spoke behind Mickey.

Iago, not having expected the voice to speak out of nowhere, screamed before he clinged onto Mickey in fright while the latter looked up and turned to see who spoke. There stood a tall familiar silver-haired man in black leather with silver shoulder pads as he gazed down at the student and the parrot. They recongised him almost immediately.

"G-General Sephiroth?" Mickey asked, uncertainly.

Despite feeling glad that Sephiroth was here as he was one of the people Mickey could trust, the teenager was uncertain. Especially with Nasira's mind-controlling powers.

Was Sephiroth a friend? Or was he caught in Nasira's spell? And what were the others who managed to escape or survive the sudden ambush going to do now? Will they be able to stop Nasira and Jafar and even the Phantom Blot?

TO BE CONTINUED!

* * *

 **A/N: Cliff-hanger! Things are not looking good as our heroes have been caught off-guard! I'm hoping to post another episode tomorrow, but my computer may end up dead in the next few hours if not a few minutes. (It may be working now, but I'm bracing for the worst)**

 **If I'm able to send another episode tomorrow(Or maybe during the week if my Computer survives-probably not), then be ready for it! If not, then I'll be back in possibly a week or several.**


	21. Episode 21: Jafar and Nasira Return-P2

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: Here's part two. But I'm still not certain whether the series will continue and if so that I should either make a season 4 or make a movie-length story as a finale or not. I have an idea what to name it(or both) but with other stories desperately needing to be completed and other ideas for future stories to start up, I'm a bit stuck.**

 **Anyway, let's continue on as we're getting closer to the end of season 3!**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 21: Jafar and Nasira Return-P2.

 _Previously, on Life NEVER was Normal..._

 _"In order to create the Ink Beast out of the Phantom Blot, I needed that Ruby for my plans. Jafar and I plotted this almost immediately after I revived him." Nasira's grin widened, before leaning further down to Terra and placed a hand onto his cheek almost hungrily, "As for you...Terra, was it? You would make a fine bodyguard for me. I've always wondered if I had a man as handsome as you as my slave."_

 _()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()_

 _"Sorry to cancel your rescue efforts, boys." Jafar mocked an apology before declaring in pure anger and hatred, "But I can't have dumb Genies and new brats mucking about ruining my plans."_

 _The next thing the duo knew, Jafar zapped them both and were both defendless as Genie was quickly entrapped inside a glass ball with a Spider Lock on it, and Mushu imprisoned in a cage hanging from a tree which could only be unlocked from the outside._

 _()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()_

 _"Reno! Isa!" Lea cried out, trying to reach his cousin and best friend, but was too late as the portal closed and he, Elena and Goofy were then flown further into the portal and soon they emerged into a familiar forest, before the portal closed up despite the redhead jolting up and hurried over, "No!" but was too late._

 _()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()_

 _Ven slowly blinked his eyes open, feeling cold and wet but his vision finally cleared as a familiar Wutaiian concerned face hovered over him._

 _"...Tseng?"_

 _()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()_

 _"I had a feeling I would find others lost among a new unusual situation that has left me in a confusing state." A smooth, deep and very well mannered voice that was also chilling spoke behind Mickey._

 _They recongised him almost immediately._

 _"G-General Sephiroth?" Mickey asked, uncertainly._

 _Despite feeling glad that Sephiroth was here as he was one of the people Mickey could trust, the teenager was uncertain. Especially with Nasira's mind-controlling powers._

* * *

Mickey and Iago could only stare at the famous SOLDIER of the Shinra Company after the teenage mouse spoke out the name. Sephiroth in turn only gazed at them silently in return, which only made things worse for the duo. It was almost as though he was studying them.

It wasn't until Iago noticed how long the silence was going, and then said surprisingly calm, "Uh, if this is a dramatic pause, it's gone too far." before he grabbed Mickey's head and hysterically screamed, "DO SOMETHING BEFORE WE'RE KILLED BY THE MAN!"

Iago then hid behind a rock in fright, nervously peeking.

"Uh, um..." Mickey stuttered, quivering in terror before he had the nerve to face Sephiroth again and asked, hoping for some luck, "W-what're you doin' here, General?" and instantly regretted in what he said.

His stomach instantly dropped as Mickey saw Sephiroth draw out his famous sword, the masumune and pointed at the teenager who stood frozen in sheer terror. It quickly became clear that even Sephiroth was hypnotized by Nasira's dark magic.

"I thought this guy was on our side!" Iago yelled out, also shocked.

Mickey was speechless, only managing to take a step back. He then screamed as Sephiroth suddenly dashed towards him. Mickey ducked and covered his head while shutting his eyes in terror, bracing himself for his end...only for the General to go over him and slice through a giant black window Spider that emerged from the darkness over the water, killing it in a single blow while the tall man calmly stood ankle deep in the river. The Spider itself disappeared.

It took Mickey a moment to realise that he was still alive, and having heard an inhuman screech and squeal, hesitatedly looked behind to see what happened and his eyes widened, managing to catch a glimpse of the now dead spider that had appeared out of nowhere and Sephiroth's back to him. All the teenager could do was stand there in dumbfounded shock at the close call he had.

"I would have thought you were smart enough to have sensed that black widow." Sephiroth calmly told him, turning before walking out of the water and passed the disbelieved teenage mouse, not even noticing the expression. "Especially when I was not attempting to kill you or your pet parrot."

Sephiroth paused in his steps, his back still to Mickey. "However, I realise that you are aware of what is going on, given that you are alone and had washed up from the river."

"...You mean you're not brainwashed?" Mickey asked, as a dumbfounded Iago peaked behind the former's shoulder.

"If my mind had been controlled, I would have killed you both upon sight." Sephiroth answered, much to Mickey and Iago's relief as they both collasped to the ground, thankful that Sephiroth was on their side after all and thus had not been effected by Nasira's powers. Yet.

The silver-haired man then turned sharply to the duo, and questioned, "Where are your friends?"

"I-I'm don't know about Ven, but I think he's up river on the right side of it. Terra and Mr. McDuck are caught by an evil Sorceress named Nasira who's causing so many problems." Mickey explained as he stood up. "Everybody else should be back at the Academy. Lea, Isa, Genie, Mushu, Donald and Goofy should'a warned everybody about this. See, Nasira is a mean Sorceress from the Arabian Nights and we're not sure how she's still alive, but what we do know is that she wants to revive her brother who happens to be Jafar, and for some reason, she even got the Phantom Blot and a Ruby that Scrooge found earlier."

Sighing, Sephiroth muttered, "So she's here too, and now I know of her origins and her name." before inquiring, "Tell me; how is it that you know much of her?"

Confused on what Sephiroth was talking about, Mickey gazed at a nervous Iago before answering, "Well, Iago was there and so was Genie. They both know about those two than any of us."

"Yeah, what he said. Last time I saw Nasira and Jafar was when just before Al'-you know, Aladdin-stopped them thousands of years ago. Jafar ended up dead-again-but Nasira got away." Iago shrugged nervously, then admitted, "I woulda thought she died too and due to being nasty she ended up in the Underworld or somethin'."

"I see." Sephiroth replied. "That's why she appeared in Midgar, and why the Blot always manages to escape. She was waiting for this."

"Huh? Whaddya mean?" Mickey asked, slightly confused.

Sephiroth frowned in realization and scowled, "This Nasira as you call her attacked Midgar and possessed the minds of ShinRa, excluding Angeal, Genesis, the Turks and myself. We were only able to evacuate the Vice President, but we secretly followed her. Hoping she would lead us to a clue. Tseng believed that if we followed her, he would have an idea what she is doing."

"But if she wanted the Ruby to bring Jafar back, why did she want the Phantom Blot too? I mean, she woulda just stolen it from him when he stole it from Scrooge, right?" Mickey pointed out, still confused.

"She was not alone. There was a man with her with incredible powers." The General corrected. "If the theory is correct, it means Jafar is already revived and they need the Arabian Ruby for something else...as well as the Phantom Blot."

"Jafar is already back!?" Mickey exclaimed, horrified.

Iago shuddered, before dramatically declaring, "That does it! We're already too late again! We're all gonna die!" only to be shoved off by Mickey who glared at him in annoyance and the annoying bird hit the ground hard. "Ow!"

"Well, isn't there anything we can do? I gotta go save my friends and if Jafar really is back, that means he and Nasira are gonna be comin' for Genie!" Mickey inquired.

"It is not just your friend they are attempting to stop. Perhaps it's due to when Hades and Chernabog were defeated by Ventus, they believe that he and all of you have the power and knowlage to stop them, because you all remind them of Aladdin from the legend." Sephiroth responded.

Mickey felt like smacking himself. "Darn it! Of course they woulda known! Sorcerers and Sorceresses can do that since they have magic! But that means they knew I had all those nightmares..." He then gasped in realization, thinking back of the monster and how it was made of ink, just like the others had said hours ago. Phantom Blot was made out of ink...

"The Phantom Blot's gonna turn into a monster like in my dreams! And in order to do that, they need the Ruby!" Mickey realised.

"My thoughts, exactly." Sephiroth agreed. "That's why I'm going too."

"Ya mean to stop them?" Mickey correctly guessed, before asking, "Where are Tseng and the other Turks and SOLDIER anyway?"

"Scouting the area for anyone who may have escaped Nasira's spell." The SOLDIER answered. "Considering your heroic deeds the last time and your unusual visions, if you wish to reunite with your friends, then we should get moving."

Mickey blinked in surprise. "You're letting me go with you?"

"Nasira and Jafar's magic are mobilizing, but there's still time. First, you and I will find the others before they do, and then retake Radiant City. Then, we will head to where Nasira and Jafar have taken the Phantom Blot and stop them from turning him into the monster." Sephiroth told him, with a small smirk.

"Really!?" Mickey asked, relieved and excitedly.

Sephiroth surprisingly chuckled, "Yes, really."

"Hot dog!" Mickey cheered, before remembering who was talking to and cleared his throat, trying again more calmly, "I mean, *ahem* Good. Then we better get goin'."

"Follow me." Sephiroth gestured, taking the lead.

"Yes, sir!" Mickey saluted, before picking up Iago and hurried to follow Sephiroth to find the others.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ven and Tseng were walking through the forest themselves after the former had dried off due to the latter having saved him from drowning and had preformed CPR on him. The two of them pretty much had the same conversation on the situation that was going on and were now hoping to find Mickey and the others along with those who escaped Midgar and had followed Nasira and Jafar to here.

But the two then froze when they heard and saw the bushes close by rustle. Keeping silent as both of them were trained to do, Ven stood in a defence stance while Tseng's hand reached towards his pistol, and would only take it out should there be a threat.

To their surprise and relief, Goofy hesitatedly came out of the bushes but it did nearly make Tseng fire as he aimed and stopped himself short from shooting the now nervous student who held his hand up in surrender.

"Please don't shoot! It's only me." Goofy pleaded, quivering in fear.

"Goofy!" Ven sighed in relief, and was even more relieved as Lea and Elena emerged as well and the trio soon joined, while they were surprised that Tseng was with him.

"Ven! Boss! The hell happened? Where're the others? Don't tell me Jafar's sister got to them!" Lea cried out, relieved and yet even more concerned, while Elena was happy to see Tseng again and even caught the Turk off-guard when she hugged him, almost in tears. The Wutaiin stilled before he softly returned the embrace, relieved that she was safe.

"I don't know about Mickey and Iago. I just hope they're alright." Ven replied, adding, "But I got a bad feeling those guys got to Terra and still have Scrooge. What about you guys? Don't tell me Jafar attacked you already?"

"How'd you know?" Lea blinked, before realization hit him and he groaned, turning to his future superior and grumbled in dismay, "Don't tell me Nasira attacked you guys in Midgar too already?"

Tseng nodded as he turned to the redhaired teenager, "Unfortunately, yes. Thankfully, Sephiroth and the others should meet with us soon."

"General Sephiroth is here too, sir?" Elena asked. The Wutaiian Turk nodded to confirm it.

"So we're right. Nasira didn't capture the Phantom Blot for the jewel to revive Jafar since he's already here...they're going to turn him into that monster from the nightmare." Ven realised, gritting his teeth and clutching his fist in anger.

Lea cringed, "Yeah, Shantotto predicted that before that old guy ambushed us. She's the reason who me, Goof' and 'Lena got here in the first place. He's got her and the others caught by now back at the Academy. They're gonna use that stupid Ruby to turn Ink-man into that thing."

"We gotta find and help Mickey and Iago!" Goofy cried out, worriedly.

"And save the others from those two Sibiling-maniacs!" Lea added, still fearing for the safety of the others, especially his cousin and best friend.

"Lets go. But be vigilant, as we do not know the full strength of those two." Tseng warned, and the four students nodded in agreement.

Though as they walked off to meet up with the other people who escaped Midgar, their conversation had been earsdropped by Pete and Moggler who had both managed to avoid in getting hypnotized by Nasira and made their escape to here. When their former fellow students and the Turk were out of earsdrop, the two trouble-makers emerged from behind a tree, thinking about the situation.

"So it was a Sorceress and her brother that's causin' all d'is trouble this time?" Pete mumured, before admitting to Moggler, "Sure glad d'ey didn't get near us or it'd be Hades and Chernabog all over again."

"What do we plan to do now, Kupo?" Moggler asked.

Pete then grinned and rubbed his hands together, saying greedily, "Easy. We follow those pipsqueaks since those Abra-cadabra fellows got there Arabian Ruby. Then, while they're distracted, you and me will sneak up and steal it for ourselves, see."

This Moggler really liked, and he giggled in delight. But before the two of them could even continue the conversation, they heard something falling from the sky which got louder and louder which made them look up. They then squealed in horror as a crate, which was shoved off an Airplane, came falling and while Moggler flew out of the way, Pete was unlucky because he was hit and crushed into the ground with a hole shaped like him and the crate on top.

The crate itself then broke apart into four pieces of flat wood and revealed a dazed Pumbaa who finally managed to recover from his unexpected shock and merge from his alternate self that changed history back in Destiny Town.

After shaking away the dizziness, Pumbaa realised he was alone and looked around, calling out in confusion, "Timon? Timon?"

"AGGHHHHHH! COMING DOOOOOWWWWWWNNNN!" Timon's scream filled his ears and when Pumbaa looked up, he saw that his best meerkat friend had fallen last and was now falling fast towards the ground along with a suitcase of personal items.

"Uh oh." Pumbaa muttered, before calling up while he hopped away briefly, "Don't worry, Timon! I'll bring you something that you can have a soft landing." and returned a few seconds later wheeling in a double-sized bed and dresser into Timon's landing spot...and completely covering the hole Pete was stuck in. He continued to watch, checked his watch, before looking back up again.

Unfortunately, to those who are familiar with Episode 9 of Life FAR from Normal-Season 1, while the suitcase landed onto the bed, Timon wasn't so lucky. He crashed into the bed-side drawers and right into the bottom drawer.

The drawer opened up and revealed Timon, in half-consciousness, wearing a pink dress and an orange wig, dizzly mumbling while seeing stars, "But I wanna wear a pink one, mommy..." before being hit on the head by multiple pine-cones and back into the drawer, while his friend winched.

"Sorry." Pumbaa apologised.

Timon emerged from the drawer, fully awake and glared at his friend, "Next time, put in a king-sized bed! Now c'mon, let's go before something else disasterous happens." before he leaped out and began to walk off.

"Uh, Timon? Are you sure we shouldn't worry about those ghosts we saw up there? The creepy lady and that creepy old man sure look dangerous." Pumbaa asked, worriedly.

"Pumbaa, I'm still not convinced that you went all the way into the past and changed history with one of those kids and now you're suggesting we do something about ghosts that could take us with them?" Timon asked, skeptical.

"Well, it did happen. That's why I was shocked by that lightning on the beach. Plus, we did help those kids a few times." Pumbaa pointed out.

"And your point is?"

"Something's gone wrong and we need to help."

"And how do we do that?"

While the two friends thought and had the conversation, Moggler went over to the other side of the bed, wondering if Pete was okay. He saw his partner-in-crime's hand poke out from the ground and gestured him to come over. When the Moggle did, he was repeatedly smacked three times, yelping, "Ow, ow, Kupo-ow!"

This could take a while with those four.

* * *

While all of the commotion in the forest was going on, Jafar wasted no time in imprisoning virtually everyone in the Academy in the Storage Room, having turned it into a dungeon with chains because now most of the students, teachers, staff, Headmasters and ect were chained up to the wall.

Nasira had returned and even chained up Scrooge who furiously yelled, struggling against his chains, "Unchain us, ye fiends! Or ye will regret it!"

"Ooooh! Whatcha gonna do, gramps? Hit me with your cane?" Nasira mocked beng frightened, then laughed evilly and amusement as did her brother. "In case you forgot, Mr. Money-bags, I have the Arabian Ruby back in our clutches. I should be thanking you for leading our new henchman into his sealed fate."

"Who? The Phantom Blot?" Reno inquired, glaring at the two villians, "You're not seriously gonna turn him into a big, fat, ugly monster, are ya?"

"Not that they're exactly Snow White and Prince Charming." The chained up Zidane muttered under his breath.

Loz in the meantime was having trouble holding Pluto who growled and barked angrily as the dog tried to escape, and the possessed teenager grunted, "Nasira! This dog won't stand still!"

Pluto managed to wriggled free and made for the door, but was quickly chained to the wall when Jafar used his dark magic to stop him and now the dog was chained by his collar. So now Mickey's pup was left growling angrily at the two villians, as both Mushu and Genie, who were both brought into the room earlier, sighed in hopelessness.

"You really think you can win this? You still have Ventus and the others out there-"

"I think you don't understand the situation that they will not return alive, boy." Jafar cuts Vanitas off cruelly.

Reno growled and struggled against his chains, hissing furiously, "You'd better not hurt my cousin, jerk! You do and you'll regret it!" as deep down he feared for Lea's safety.

"Cousin?" Jafar inquired, admittedly surprised. "I thought he was your brother, especially since you both look very much alike." He then laughed evilly, "No matter, because I'm afraid the whole world will be under our rule and you and all others will become our slaves."

He then approached Aqua, Aerith, Tifa, Serah and Garnet, and he had to admit, while none of them were Jasmine, they were beautiful enough and he grinned predetorly, "Such beautiful spirits!" which made Zack, Cloud, Zidane and Claire furious as they struggled against their chains to try and prevent Jafar from getting to five women.

Serah attempted to bite hard on Jafar's hand, but the latter yanked it back and dangerously warned her, "Perhaps after a few days in chains, you'll be more kindly disposed toward me." He then warned all five of them, "All five of you. Especially if you want your sister and the young children to remain healthy!"

"Brother, I think we should stop that boy and his other friends before they return. Then we must return to my domain to complete the transformation of the Shadow Blot." Nasira advised, "Plus, I have a bodyguard waiting for me there. You can pick up your selected maid later."

"Perhaps you're right, dear sister." Jafar agreed with a grin, he then turned back to the prisoners and sneered, "I'll be sure to give your friends a parting gift."

Zack growled angrily, yelling, "Wait 'till I my hands the hell on you jerks!"

"Yeah! We'll strangle you both until your faces turn blue!" Donald added, with Pluto barking angrily, and everyone else struggled against their chains, wanting nothing more than to tear Jafar and his siter limb from limb.

"I'm _so_ worried." Jafar mocked, before he, Nasira, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz all left the room and shut the door behind them.

Left trapped, everyone could only gaze at each other in horror. They could now only hope that Ven, Mickey, Lea, Elena, Iago and Goofy would be able to stay alive and save them to stop Jafar and Nasira.

* * *

Meanwhile, Angeal and Genesis had just met up with Balto and Legend who had slumped into the ground in irritation.

"Ugh! Man, this is gettin' us nowhere! We're just walkin' around in circles, for Titan's sake." Legend groaned, agitated.

"Perhaps we should wait for Sephiroth and Tseng to return." Genesis suggested.

"They would have found people who managed to escape from being captured by now." Angeal agreed.

Balto sighed, shaking his head, "Or perhaps they were caught as well."

"Well, sitting here isn't going to help." Angeal pointed out.

Legend sighed, exasperated, "'Specially since nobody's gonna suddenly drop by an' help us."

As though his mental wish came true, a strange portal suddenly appeared above them and while the four men tensed, Shantotto unexpectedly fell out from it and landed on the ground with a thud and 'omph'.

"Uh..." The two SOLDIERS and the two Turks mumured awkwardly, sharing a dumbfounded expression, not sure what to say of this unexpected entrance of the small Tarutaru.

"Why did Jafar interfere with the gateway and then lead me astray?" Shantotto complained to herself as she stood up, quickly recovering from her unexpected exit. She then noticed four men standing awkwardly behind her and she smirked, quickly regaining her composture.

She turned to the four men and inquired, "Are you on an excursion? What a quaint diversion."

The four men shared another glance before gazing back at Shantotto, and Legend was the first to comment, "Yer sure in high spirits, all things considered."

"Do you think you can help us get to Radiant City if it's not already overtaken?" Angeal inquired to the Tarutaru, ignoring Legend's comment.

"We were to meet with Sephiroth and Tseng, but it seems waiting is no longer an optain." Genesis added.

Seeing and sensing how these men were known to her friends, Shantotto nodded before turning, holding out her staff which glowed while saying to the SOLDIERS and Turks, "If not, who would I be? A Tarutaru without pedigree."

"Oh, thank Shiva." Balto breathed in relief.

Legend shared that feeling as he leaped back onto his feet, grinning like a crazy guy, "Guess this is our lucky day." before wondering in confusion, "Just a question, though. Who the heck is she?"

"An ally. Perhaps a friend of our future rookies." Genesis replied.

"We should hurry and be vigilant." Angeal cautioned his group who nodded in agreement and despite slight suspicion about Shantotto, at least she was on their side.

If only they stayed along enough to notice another attack nearby.

* * *

Ven, Lea, Elena, Tseng and Goofy were nearing the spot where Ven lost track of Mickey and Iago and where Terra and Scrooge had been captured, when all five of them heard and felt a rumble that shook the ground.

"What was that?" Elena cried out, while blushing hard as she realised she accidently bumped into Tseng who prevented her from falling over.

"Look!" Goofy cried out, as suddenly the river became more and more violent, the winds then picked up and before they all knew it, water sprouted upward with the wind becoming stronger, beginning to suck almost everything in it's path.

"It's that whirlpool that seperated me from the others!" Ven exclaimed.

"Get away from that! Now!" Tseng ordered as he realised what was about to happen.

"Look out!" Lea shouted, quickly pulling Ven and Tseng out of the way with Elena still in the Turk's arms and Goofy hurrying after them. But even as the five of them ran to get away from it, due to Jafar and Nasira's spell enchanted on it, it had other ideas as the five of them were being forced off the ground despite their battle against it and all of them yelled in alarm while being sucked into the whirlpool.

While this was witnessed by five bystanders. On the same part of the forest as the now captured group, Pete and Moggler, who had decided to follow the group and force them to let them 'help' out to steal the Ruby while pretending to redeem themselves, and without thinking, Pete shouted, "After them!" and he and Moggler rushed in to get to the group.

Climbing up the hill and reaching the same spot on the other side of the river, Mickey, Iago and Sephiroth arrived just in time and they all saw what happened, shocked and horrified to see Mickey's friends and the Turk trapped.

"They're caught in the whirlpool that seperated us in the first place!" Mickey gasped, horrified.

Pete and Moggler climbed up and held onto trees to try and prevent themselves from being sucked in as well, and when Ven and the others neared them while being spun around and around repeatedly, they attempted to grab them or one of them at least.

"I got 'em...I got 'em!" Pete grunted, only that he didn't and then lost his grip and was being sucked in. He turned and tried to swim away, yelling in panic, "It's got me! It's got me!"

Moggler reacted quickly and grabbed one of Pete's hands, pulling as hard as he could while grunting, "I got you, I got you, Kupo!"

Unfortunately, the Moggle was sucked in and he and Pete both exclaimed together while being pulled into the Whirlpool, "It's got us! It's got us!" before they screamed and were now inside, yelling while being spun around and around and repeatedly failed to keep their balance. It's amazing that no one was drowning and could actually even speak and scream without getting water in their lungs.

As Mickey's group went closer, but in a safe distance to not get sucked in themselves, Mickey turned to Sephiroth urgently, "We gotta save them and fast!"

"It is too dangerous to simply leap in. It's best to think and then attempt a rescue." Sephiroth informed him sternly.

"Finally! Someone with reason." Iago sighed in relief, only to be grabbed by an impatient Mickey who quickly avoided a shocked Sephiroth's hands to stop him.

"Well, I'm not waitin'!" Mickey replied stubbornly, already making up his mind. "Hold on, Iago! We're goin' in!"

"Uh, Mick'? Shouldn't we listen to Sephiro-OOOA!" Iago yelled when Mickey willingly leaped and allowed himself and the screaming parrot into the whirlpool. Sephiroth stood there before sighing and then leaped into the whirlpool himself to save everyone inside.

As they all spun around and around, Lea was the first to notice Pete and Moggler, groaning aloud, "You losers again!?"

"Y-yeah! Hey, come back...here, pipsqueaks!" Pete grunted and tried to swim closer to the redhead and his friends, only managing to go backwards and further away due to the whirlpool's force.

"Mickey! Iago!" Ven cried out, relieved and now even more concerned as Mickey and Iago came towards him once the others soon joined up.

"And General Sephiroth?" Lea cried out, once he and everyone else saw the silver-haired man with them.

"They've come to rescue us!" Goofy cheered happily.

Mickey grunted before holding out his free hand, telling the others, "Hold on to each other and don't let go!"

Everyone did so, with both Ven and Sephiroth having a hand each free to wield their swords, which, if they did this right, maybe they can cut their way through and stop this water-cyclone that Jafar and/or Nasira created for good.

During which Iago, clinging on for dear life, was yelling out while his feathers were being flown off and all over the place, "I'm losin' my feathers here!"

"Be thankful that you are not losing anymore than that." Sephiroth pointed out with a disapproved frown, which earned him a sheepish grin from the parrot.

Just then a rock was sucked in and began to head straight towards Mickey who gasped along with the others, knowing that it would hit them and they would be forced to let go. So thinking quickly, the teenage mouse awkwardly lifted his right leg and kicked the rock away from him, his friends, the Turk and the SOLDIER. But it bounced all over the place and hit both Pete and Moggler who both lost control and were flown into the middle, screaming.

"Uh-oh!" Mickey yelped, before calling out to Ven and Sephiroth, "Try slicin' the whirlpool, quick!"

"O-Okay! Hold on!" Ven grunted, before he summoned the Emerald Sword and struggled to hold onto it, while Sephiroth held a tight grip on the Masumune. The two then sliced two slashed holes just in time for the rock to return. The impact of the slice forced everyone lower and narrowly missing the rock, but were forced to let go and the whirlpool began to shrink.

It then spat everything and everyone else seperately. First was the rock, then were Ven, Sephiroth and Tseng who both landed harshly but without crashing. Then were Elena and Lea who both screamed and fell. Fortunately, Tseng caught Elena in his arms while Lea landed in Sephiroth's chest, but the SOLDIER kept his balance and caught him, having expected that to happen.

Then Iago and Goofy came flying out, screaming with the latter yelling his trademark hollar, and crashing to the bushes nearby. Then Pete and Moggler were shot out and sent flying down into the river below the waterfall, narrowly missing the rocks and were swept away. Finally, Mickey came flying out screaming while the whirlpool finally vanished. The teenager in the meantime crashed into the bushes near the others who saw this.

"Mickey!" Ven cried out as he, Lea, Elena, Tseng and Sephiroth rushed over. Thankfully, Mickey was okay as he poked out from the bushes, covered in some leaves and briefly dazed as his head spun, moaning.

"I-I'm okay." Mickey replied, after shaking away the dizziness, before noticing that they were missing two others. "Where are Iago and Goofy?"

"Over here, Mickey!" Goofy called out, while he repeatedly tried to wake the unconscious Iago by slapping him on the face, then shook him. He then got frustrated and yelled at the parrot, "WAKE UP!" scaring the bird awake.

By the time Mickey and the others got to Goofy and the now awake Iago, the teenage mouse sighed apologetically, "I'm sorry, everyone. It was the only way to get outta that whirlpool."

"Ah, don't worry 'bout it, Mick'. At least we're all in one piece." Lea shrugged with a grin.

"Yeah...just barely." Iago dryly commented. He then said worriedly, "Though, with Nasira and Jafar in charge, they probably already trapped Genie in a bottle or somethin' and others in the Academy. Only way to free them is for someone to go in there and free that lunkhead."

"I don't think so." Mickey shook his head, firmly. "I bet they're tryin' to get rid of us and they might know we're still alive or not. Either way, they're gonna try and turn the Phantom Blot into a monster-the same one I kept seein' in my nightmares."

"Yeah, Shantotto already told the others that before that old guy ambushed us." Lea nodded in agreement. "We have to figure out how to stop them and save the others."

"Then let's hurry and be prepared for the dangers that Jafar and Nasira may have summoned upon Radiant City." Sephiroth advised.

The others nodded, and despite knowing that it was a long hike back to Radiant City, the group hurried to try and save their friends while hoping that nothing else would go horribly wrong. Though they may get some help once they reach the city.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Nasira's domain, she and Jafar were laughing evilly, while Terra stood, almost motionless and chained against the rock wall and head down, and the struggling and furious Phantom Blot strapped in the middle of some contraption with two pillars on both sides of him that his arms and legs were chained to.

"Now that the deaths of Ventus and his friends are complete, there is one little matter left to resolve." Jafar cackled evilly.

"Indeed." Nasira grinned evilly, turning to the Phantom Blot, "Our new ultimate henchmen and weapon."

Question marks appeared above the Blot's head as he inquired, dumbfounded, "Me? What do you want me to do? I'm a criminal mastermind; a thief, a kidnapper!"

"Not for long." Nasira told him, holding up the Arabian Ruby, "This is the key that will turn you into the greatest beast of all, perhaps much more powerful than Chernabog and Hades combined!"

Jafar nodded in agreement, adding, "You will become a beast known as the Shadow Blot!"

Shocked and somewhat horrified by this revelation, the Phantom Blot glared at the duo, sneering, "Insolant fools! You really think that little jewel will turn me into a monster? Forget it!"

"You have no choice, and no allowence to speak!" Nasira declared, already heading to place the jewel onto a small pedestal with a nasty grin on her face. "Soon, the entire world will be ours to take and all who defy us will suffer the penalty of DEATH!"

Both Nasira and Jafar then laughed manically and insanely, while Terra stood doing nothing and the Phantom Blot, for the first time in his life, was horrified by this unforgiving fate.

However, little did Jafar and Nasira know, their new enemies were in fact still alive and were most likely already making plans to stop them at this moment. But will Mickey and the others succeed in defeating them and the Phantom-soon-to-be-turned-into-Shadow Blot? What has happened to Terra? Will everyone in Radiant City and in the entire world be saved?

TO BE CONTINUED!

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that this chapter was shorter than the previous one, but I didn't want to make the final episode really short as I'm running out of ideas again, and I still have no idea if I should continue the series or not or make a movie-length story set after this.**

 **The final episode probably won't be posted tomorrow. Or maybe it will. Who knows? Until then, see you in the exciting conclusion!**


	22. Episode 22: Jafar and Nasira Return-P3

**Disclaimer:** _Life NEVER was Normal_ is a story set in an alternate universe of Kingdom Hearts, set immediately after the second season of the previous story _Life DEFINATELY not Normal_ , after the first season _Life FAR from Normal_ and after the Epilogue of, " _The Betrayal of Light_ ", also featuring many characters from Disney and Final Fantasy that haven't made it to Kingdom Hearts games or Manga yet.

 **Author's Note: This is it! The final episode of Life NEVER was Normal. I also have an important announcement to make, but that will be revealed at the end of this chapter as I've made a final decision of the series' future(and possibly won't start until after I eventually get a new computer, ugh).**

 **Let's get to it!**

 **I don't own anything here.**

* * *

EP 22: Jafar and Nasira Return-P3.

 _Previously, on Life NEVER was Normal..._

 _Nasira held up the Arabian Ruby, "This is the key that will turn you into the greatest beast of all, perhaps much more powerful than Chernabog and Hades combined!"_

 _Jafar nodded in agreement, adding, "You will become a beast known as the Shadow Blot!"_

 _Both Nasira and Jafar then laughed manically and insanely, while Terra stood doing nothing and the Phantom Blot, for the first time in his life, was horrified by this unforgiving fate._

 _However, little did Jafar and Nasira know, their new enemies were in fact still alive and were most likely already making plans to stop them at this moment._

* * *

Radiant City was somewhat abanonded in the last few hours. Many terrified people who haven't been cursed by Nasira's Brainwashing spell hid in fear in their homes, and those who were possessed either ransacked the streets or had turned into various animals, or were attempting to hurt people. Only a knock on the head seemed to snap them out of it.

And that's what Shantotto, Angeal, Genesis, Legend and Balto were doing, as well as fighting off moving skeletions of the undead that Nasira and Jafar no doubt summoned to take control of the people of Radiant City. It was the invasion of Hades and Chernabog all over again, only without the giant monsters part. Though the five of them found themselves stuck in a middle and were about to get attacked when gun shots and a quick strike from a familiar Masumune killed the five enemies instantly, leaving the non-cursed group to look to see that Tseng and Sephiroth, along with Mickey, Ven, Lea, Elena, Goofy, and Iago stood there.

"About time you shown up." Angeal commented to Sephiroth who snorted in response.

"I see you have been busy." Sephiroth remarked, shattering another skeletion into pieces half a second later.

Tseng in the meantime turned to the students and bird, ordering them, "Head over to the Academy and then put a stop to Jafar and Nasira's madness, now!"

"What about you guys?" Ven cried out, worriedly. He didn't want to leave the Turks and SOLDIER behind, and from the horrified looks from his friends, neither did they.

"We'll be fine. Go, now!" Tseng repeated, quickly killing another monster that came at him.

"Well, don't just stand there with concern!" Shantotto grunted at the teenagersa nd parrot, using her magic to blast another skeletion and monster that looked like a human-bodied warrior with a dog head. "Our main enemies are attacking at every turn!"

Hesitating in leaving the Turks, SOLDIER and Shantotto behind, Ven nodded before telling his friends that they have to hurry. So, after telling the others to be careful, the group hurried along towards the Academy to rescue the others while leaving their allies behind, praying that they would be alright.

But as Ven, Mickey, Lea, Elena, Goofy and Iago reached the front steps of the school, they skid to a stop and quickly hid behind a building when they saw that it was blocked off by a pack of Hyenas, which made them realise that this wasn't going to be an easy thing to get passed by.

"Ugh, I hate carnivores. Especially Hyenas." Iago whimpered.

"Okay, what's the plan getting past those mutts?" Lea whispered.

"What we need is a live bait." Ven whispered, "Question is, who's gonna do it?"

The group shared concerned glances, neither willing to rat each other out on this. It wasn't until Mickey noticed a familiar animal duo who hid nearby them and, having a regrettable idea, he snuck towards them and saw that it was Timon and Pumbaa who arrived.

"Uh, excuse me." Mickey whispered to the duo who both nearly jumped at his unexpected arrival. "I know this is such a huge favor and if you both are alive at the end of this, I'll make it up to ya's. But do ya think you can be the live bait to those fellas while we sneak into the school?"

"Good idea." Timon whispered, before realising that, not only Mickey couldn't understand him, but he also realised what the teenage mouse had in mind and scowled accusingly, "Hey!"

Somehow Mickey knew that the two animals didn't like this idea, because he pleaded, "Please? We need a diversion."

Timon placed his hands on his hips and asked sarcastically, "What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula!?"

 _Two minutes later..._

A drumming sound alerted the pack of Hyenas who turned to see where it was coming from, and immediately their eyes lit up in delighted hunger, as stood before them, was Timon dressed in a drag-grass skirt and everything, with Pumbaa lying down, still alive, but with an apple in his mouth, pretending to be a ready to be cooked roasted Warthog, while the Hyenas slowly advanced, and unaware to the hungry carnivores, Mickey, Ven, Lea, Elena, Goofy, and Iago slowly and silently crept past them and snuck into the Academy while the Hyenas were too distracted.

* * *

Thanks to Iago checking the windows and telling the others where everyone else were held captive but made a note that Terra was missing, much to Ven's dismay, the five of them hurried to the Storage Room thankfully without any problems and yanked the door open.

"Guys!" Ven called out to everyone in the room. "Headmasters!"

"Ven! Mickey! Goofy! Elena! Lea! Iago!" The trapped prisoners exclaimed with huge relief on their expressions.

"Hold on, everybody. You'll get you out." Mickey promised as he and the others hurried over to where Genie was stuck inside the glass ball. Iago had already went there and, remembering the last time and hoping that it wouldn't require flight this time, he heaved the heavy ball up with struggle, nearly losing his footing and then tossed it as hard as he could...unfortunately, it bounced and didn't break.

"It has to be lifted higher." Serah sighed, exasperated.

Iago panted, already exhausted but knew that the arts teacher was right. So instead, he replied, weakly, "Sure...no problem."

"Oh, for Ifrit's sake...!" Lea groaned, before turning to Ven and gestured, "Gimme a boost, will ya'?"

"Uh, sure." Ven nodded, crouching down before Lea climbed onto his shoulders and the two teenagers suddenly wobbled while the former slowly and shakily stood up, but not before the latter gestured for Goofy and Elena to give him the glass ball with Genie in it. They did so(and even they were surprised at how heavy it was) and after a few stumbles, Lea hurriedly tossed the ball with his might.

At first it seemed it didn't look like it, but due to being higher, and the force of being thrown, the glass shattered and Genie was instantly free, much to everyone's relief.

"All right!" Lea cheered, quickly jumping back down to avoid in falling over with Ven who sighed in relief.

"But we better hurry! Shantotto and the others are fightin' them monsters and hurry to stop Nasira and Jafar!" Goofy hurriedly said.

"No worry. I can handle that and getting us outta here. For my new trick;" Genie began, and as he snapped his fingers, he and everyone else in the room, including those who were free from the chains, and then even Timon and Pumbaa were all suddenly teleported away, Genie chanted, "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

Everyone then appeared on top of the roof of the Academy, as Genie declared proudly, "Oh, and almost everyone is safe and sound."

Immediately, now free, almost everyone embraced in the reunion of relief, with Minnie kissing Mickey repeatedly on the cheek which nearly the latter pass out in sheer tingly happiness and love, and then was happily licked by Pluto which made Mickey laugh.

"Where's Terra?" Ven asked, worriedly now that he had the time to notice that one of his best friends was missing.

"That blasted Nasira took 'im with her and Jafar, and I'm not sure what they'll do to 'im." Scrooge grunted angrily, before smacking himself on the head, "Ooh! I never shoulda brought that Ruby with! I shoulda known that tour-guide was playin' tricks. I WANT MY MONEY BACK!"

"I think this is the time that we run for our lives!" Iago quickly interjected.

Mickey, hearing this, frowned with determination and declared, "No! We hafta stop Nasira and Jafar before they turn the Phantom Blot into a monster!"

"But how? They're immortal and we might already be too late." Donald pointed out with a shrug.

"Yes, that is indeed a problem. Unless we destroy the Ruby and stop them that way, it will be impossible." Xehanort nodded in agreement.

"Hold on..." Lea began in realization. His eyes then widened and he exclaimed with some hope, "Guys, we can stop them by destroying the jewel!"

Genie suddenly came to the same realization and snapped his fingers, "That's it! The Arabian Ruby! No one ever knew of it's origins as it appeared...right around just after Al' defeated and destroyed Jafar the second time, and after Nasira escaped. If we're right, the Ruby is her life-force, the life-force of Jafar and what will also be used to turn the Phantom Blot into a monster."

"So if we destroy the Arabian Ruby, it'll kill Nasira, kill Jafar again and turn the Phantom Blot back to normal?" Isa theoried.

"Then that's what we'll do." Ven decided, "It probably won't be easy and I'm worried about Terra. But we gotta make this count and fast. Let's form a plan, especially since we're up against all three of them."

Despite the concerns of the safeties of those who would be going and that time was running out for Shantotto, SOLDIER and the Turks, everyone, except for Timon and Pumbaa who shared a confused shrug, everyone began forming a plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the domain which was inside a volcano in off coast of Egypt, the Phantom Blot was screaming and yelling as he felt like he was electrocuted by the power of the Arabian Ruby which glowed a bright red along with Nasira's staff. He couldn't take much more of this, and while his world began to darken, his screams soon became a monsterous roar, and his body soon grew and morphed into that of a monster.

"It's all coming together now. Soon our goal will finally come true, and the world shall bow to us!" Nasira grinned evilly.

"Indeed, and I will be able to rule Agrabah just as I always meant to do." Jafar agreed. Just then he heard roars of agony from outside of their chamber, and clashes and grunts which made him and Nasira turn to see what was going on.

"It seems your little bodyguard needs a bit more mind cleansing, my dear sister." Jafar suggested.

"Perhaps." Nasira nodded in agreement, "Do me a favor and watch over the Ruby and the Shadow Blot. I will be back." and before she let her brother say something to that request, she snapped her fingers and vanished to teleport into the tunnels, much to his bit of annoyance.

* * *

Not long after Genie teleported himself with Ven, Aqua, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Iago, Mushu, Lea, Isa, Zack, Cloud, Reno and Rude to inside the dark lava-like tunnels of where he and Iago knew that Nasira and Jafar would be hiding, the group immediately found themselves in a heat of a battle with the monsters that were waiting inside.

Thankfully, Genie had already provided weapons for the group-except Ven who had the Emerald Sword, Rude since he used his fists, and both Iago and Mushu since they were going with Aqua and Mickey-to fight. For Mickey, Aqua, Donald, Goofy, Lea and Isa, they had the same weapons Genie made them during the Chernabog battle. Zack and Cloud were both armed with brand swords and Reno had his own EMR.

"Okay! One...two...three!" Mickey counted, and Mushu pulled out a trumpet out of nowhere and blew into it, creating the signaled, ' _Charge_ ' fanfare.

"CHARGE!" Everyone hollared and charged, hacking, slashing, punching, kicking, tossing sharp weapons and slicing their way through the enemies, and while they were blocked off for a bit, they kept going until there was a small opening. Genie was blasting lasers at the mummies, skeletions and extra while having turned into Rambo to aid his friends.

"Go, now's your chance!" Lea told Ven, Aqua, Mickey, Iago and Mushu who nodded, as it was part of the plan before they all hurried down further into the tunnel, while the redhead expertly tossed his Chakrams at the enemies again.

Zack spun his sword before yelling at two dog-headed warriors, "Come and get it!" and slashed at their chests, knocking them back as he went. Cloud did the similiar thing and leaped into the air before he descended and sliced another Mummy in half side-ways.

Isa and Donald both whacked and hit their skeletions while Rude punched away the enemies coming towards him, and Reno high-kicked several more before electrocuting another with the EMR. Goofy slammed his shield at another dog-headed warrior who was dazed and was seeing stars.

Genie then turned into a Cowboy and then lassoed a bunch of monsters into a tight grip and pulled them over onto the ground, then cheered, "And yer goin' down!"

The group quickly continued the fight.

* * *

Ven's group in the meantime continued along as they followed Iago who then saw the final tunnel up ahead, pointing it while saying to his friends, "That's the doorway, into the Chamber!"

"Then that's where we'll find the Ruby and the Phantom Blot." Mickey nodded.

"Okay. You guys know what to do." Ven told the others firmly, adding to Aqua, "I'll be fine."

"...Be careful, Ven." Aqua said to her younger friend, still not liking the idea as she had said earlier. With a last hesitated nod, she followed Mickey, Iago and Mushu through the chambers, hiding in the dark shadows as they went in hopes of locating the Ruby and hoped that Genie and the others could catch up to Ven and help him to defeat Jafar and Nasira and hopefully the Phantom Blot hasn't already turned into the Shadow Blot.

It wasn't until after Mickey's group had gone into the chambers that Ven suddenly heard a familiar yell and gasped, quickly blocking a dark sword with the Emerald Sword, struggling against his new opponent. His eyes widened in shock as he immediately recongised him, but his eyes were glowing red, as though he was possessed.

"T-Terra? It can't be!" Ven cried out, grunting as he struggled against his best friend, not wanting to believe that Terra had been possessed. He then heard an angry snarl as behind Terra, Nasira materalized and she looked absolutely furious, but at the same time pleased as well.

"You're still alive, boy? How could that be!?" Nasira snarled.

Ven glared back and regrettably kicked Terra in the stomach and shoved him back, before demanding to the evil Sorceress, "What'd you do to Terra!?"

"Why, I took control of his mind." Nasira grinned evilly, "He was too handsome to waste away. I had always wanted a handsome young man to be my bodyguard and my slave."

"Give him back!" Ven demanded.

"Never! He belongs to me now, child. And soon, once you are eliminated, my Shadow Blot will spread fear into the world and all of the rest of your people will become slaves!" Nasira declared, before commanding Terra, "Bodyguard, destroy this child!"

The possessed Terra, as though controlled, charged towarsd Ven who dodge-rolled out of the way and then regrettably clashed against his best friend in a sword fight and leaped out of the way again when Terra jumped and attempted to slice him in half by descending towards the ground, but only hit the ground. Though that didn't mean Ven wasn't having trouble, as while he had the speed and could dodge Terra's attacks, the latter had strength which made things difficult and equal at the same time.

"Terra, stop!" Ven pleaded, while blocking his friend's sword again. "It's me; Ven!"

Nasira smiled and lauhged, "It is no use. His mind is mine and I control his strings! There is no escaping my power!"

However, the words echoed in his mind as Ven, remembering how some people who were hit hard by Shantotto and Legend earlier and as the people who were possessed did recover, his eyes widened as he realised that Nasira was wrong. It won't be easy but at least he had an idea. So while struggling to hold back the black sword, Ven stomped on Terra's foot hard, causing the older teen to grunt in pain and lost his focus, before Ven bonked Terra on the back of the head with the hilt of the Emerald Sword so hard that the brown-haired teen slumped and fell onto the ground.

"Terra?" Ven cried out, worriedly as he carefully knelt next to his friend who groaned. The younger teen leaned back, just in case Terra was still possessed. But as Terra looked up, his eyes had already returned to his normal blue, and he seemed confused.

"V-Ven? Is that you?" Terra asked, slightly confused. He then looked around and soon his memory came flooding back and then realised what did happen. "You snapped me out of Nasira's control?"

"I kinda had to hit you on the head. Sorry." Ven sheepishly apologised, while grately relieved that his best friend was back. "But maybe we should worry about that later, 'kay?"

"Yeah." Terra nodded in agreement, smiling. "Thanks, Ven."

Nasira couldn't believe what just happened. "YOU! How did you manage to-oh wait, I forgot that a hit on the head snaps one out of my control. Aladdin did the same with Razoul years ago." She grunted, and felt like smacking herself. "Ugh! I need more training with my powers."

"Not happening!" Ven and Terra both declared together as they stood, glaring at Nasira and stood ready in fighting positions, with Terra adding, "You're not getting away with this, Nasira and I won't forgive you for using me as your puppet!"

"This is where you and Jafar are going right into the Underworld!" Ven added.

"Oooh! Two boys are going to send me and Jafar into the Underworld! I'm _soooo_ afraid! Whatever will I do?" Nasira mocked, before laughing evilly and declared, "In case you have forgotten, boys, Jafar is powerful and once the Shadow Blot appears, you cannot stop the three of us! But to make sure, I will take you both on myself until my henchman gets here." and then blasted energy from her Staff at the two friends who leaped out of the way, dodging the powerful attack.

Ven and Terra both nodded and the fight against Nasira was on, while unknown to all three of them, Timon and Pumbaa, who had followed the group via having snuck in with Genie's powers teleporting them, tip-toed their way into the chambers in hopes to help Mickey and the others to destroy the Arabian Ruby.

* * *

With the transformation nearly complete, Jafar kept on watching and, admittedly was getting impatient in having to stand here and 'babysit' the Shadow Blot until the spell was complete. What was taking Nasira so long, though? Was she wasting her time flirting and playing with her new bodyguard?

"How is it that she gets a her Prince Charming while I haven't got my queen yet?" Jafar grunted to himself in annoyance.

"Jafar." A familiar voice, sounding like someone was in love, called behind him. Blinking in confusion, the Sorcerer slowly turned to see, to his surprise and confusion, was an escaped Aqua who seemed to have 'fallen' in love with him, because she placed a crown on her head.

"You know, I never realised how...very handsome you are." Aqua told him, though this was all part of the plan, because she was only acting the part and pretended to be possessed.

Staring blankly at her at first, Jafar smiled, falling for the trick as, while Aqua was no Jasmine, she was still beautiful. Another perfect beautiful flower to be his queen.

"That's more like it." Jafar grinned, as he took a couple steps foward, and inquired his new 'queen', "Now, pussycat, tell me more about...myself."

"You're tall, well dressed..." Aqua flirted as she approached him, while secretly signalling Mickey and the others who shushed Iago and Mushu who both nodded. The trio then hid behind rocks while sneaking their way towards the pedestal where the Ruby was located, with Aqua continuing to distract Jafar, the two of them now in each other's arms(though mentally, Aqua was cringing in disgust, but she kept up the act like she said she would)

"Okay, I'll get the Ruby. You two see if you can break the chains off the Blot." Mickey whispered to Iago and Mushu, and while the latter saluted, the former gulped, but none the less moved to the side to head towards the Blot, though all three of them and Aqua had been horrified to see his transformation before Aqua began her act.

However, the commotion outside was heard and grunts coming from Nasira's fight against Ven and Terra very closely got Jafar's attention. But Aqua acted quickly and to avoid in having him go after Ven, she grabbed his face and kissed him. Mickey noticed and softly gasped, shocked and disgusted.

Iago, Mushu, and even Timon and Pumbaa who were on the other side of the chambers hiding, also saw this and they were all equally disgusted.

"Eew!" Iago and Mushu both groaned, cringing back.

"Yeesh!" Timon groaned, flinching.

"Yuck!" Pumbaa groaned, sticking his tongue out in disgust. He then turned to Timon and whispered, "Timon, that's gross!"

The kiss in the meantime stopped and Jafar made to comment on the sastifying moment, but then frowned when he caught something in the reflection of Aqua's crown. Mickey's reflection as the teenage mouse caught on too late.

"YOU!" Jafar shouted as he spun around at the intruder.

"Uh-oh!" Mickey gasped and quickly hurried to try and grab the Ruby. But he was hit and blasted by Jafar's power from his own snake staff and the teenage mouse screamed while he hit the wall and slumped onto the ground. Iago, Mushu, Timon and Pumbaa all gasped in horror as Plan-A had already failed. Aqua gasped before she dropped her act and reached to hit Jafar with her own sword she pulled out, but was blocked by the evil Sorcerer's staff as he now realised it was all a trick just to get the Arabian Ruby.

"How many times do Nasira and I have to kill you, Ventus and your friends, mouse!?" Jafar demanded while shoving Aqua to the ground. He then made to attack her for the trickery, but Mickey recovered and rushed over, jumped onto Jafar's shoulders and began bonking him on the head while the evil man tried to shake him off.

"Plan-B! Get the Ruby, Aqua!" Mickey quickly called out.

Aqua nodded and got up before she raced towards the Ruby to retrieve it, while Iago and Mushu both hurried to try and break the chains of the Blot who's transformation is almost complete.

"No!" Jafar snarled, before tossing Mickey off him and then grinned evilly, zapping Aqua with his staff, taunting, "Ah ah ha, Aqua! Your time is up!" only to be knocked down by Mickey who body-slammed into him.

Aqua in the meantime was now trapped in a giant Hour-Glass, as sand then began to pour on top of her, much to the horror of her friends.

"Oh, this is bad! That's how Jafar trapped Jas' the first time Al' fought him!" Iago panicked hysterically. "Either we save her first, we get the Blot out first, or we get the Ruby first!"

"I vote for the Ruby!" Mushu quickly decided, and leaped out from his hiding place, taunting at Jafar, "Hey, Jafar! Wanna be toast or what?" before blasting fire towards the Sorcerer who saw this coming.

"Don't toy with me, lizard!" Jafar snarled and easily turned Mushu's fire into fire arrows before pointing them back at Mushu and the small Dragon shrieked before and ducked just in time before he was hit. However, it didn't stop as Mushu and now Iago were being chased away by fire arrows. "So you have indeed joined my enemies, Iago! Traitor!"

"Haven't we already sorted this out!?" Iago shrieked at his former boss, narrowly ducking with Mushu as the fire arrows perched themselves on the wall where their heads were before they ducked.

"I would finish you off first since YOU were the one to destroy me the first time, but I'll handle the brats who are just as troublesome as that Street Rat, Aladdin!" Jafar declared, before the entire chamber shook and everyone in the room nearly lost their balance before they all turned to see that the transformation was now complete, though the Ruby continued to glow.

The Shadow Blot has awakened.

* * *

The completion of the transformation was so powerful that Genie's group, and even Ven and Terra felt it while Nasira hovered in the air during their fight.

"The hell's goin' on!?" Lea exclaimed.

"It's not what I think it is, is it?" Cloud asked, worriedly.

Genie's eyes widened in horror as he gasped, "The Shadow Blot! He's transformed!"

The group shared horrified expressions as Reno mumured a terrified, "Oh, crap...!"

* * *

With Ven and Terra, they turned to the Chamber in horror while Nasira grinned evilly before she declared, "Yes...yes! The transformation is complete!"

"What?" Ven and Terra demanded.

"The Phantom Blot is now permamently the Shadow Blot! Soon he will escape and the world will be Jafar's and mine to control!" Nasira manically laughed, before blasting another zap of electricity at the duo who again leaped out of the way.

"We'll still stop you, no matter what it takes!" Ven pointed out, and found an opening to strike Nasira but she blocked the Emerald Sword with her staff before being blasted back and crashed into Terra who hit the ground hard.

"On the other hand, you two are being more annoying than I expected. Perhaps we should...Ssssset things up to the next level!" Nasira declared while using magic on herself and to Ven and Terra's horror as they recovered, she not only enlarged herself, but she also turned herself into a giant red and black viper snake, grinning evilly.

The two teenagers stood up and gritted their teeth, their grips on their weapons tightening.

* * *

"Bwahahaha!" Jafar laughed manically as the Shadow Blot broke the chains away and then towered over everyone. "The Shadow Blot is awake!"

Mickey, horrified in having seen the Shadow Blot as where his friends, Timon and Pumbaa who watched in horror, quickly hurried to the Ruby, but he was blocked off when Jafar saw this and used dark magic to materialize swords as a shield. Jafar then appeared on the other side, laughing hidiously.

"And this is just a warm up!" The evil Sorcerer added, while Mickey pulled one of the swords out of the way and pulled out his own he used a while back, deciding to try his luck on fighting Jafar himself. But Jafar was again ahead as he breathed a ring of fire around the teenage mouse.

"Shadow Blot! As my first command, destroy this mouse! I've got more intruders to finish off as he had not come alone, even with Ventus!" Jafar commanded, before vanishing in the thick of flames.

"NO!" Mickey screamed in horror, before the flames were absorbed by the towering Shadow Blot who roared an evil laugh while looming over the young mouse who turned and his heart stopped for a moment. He gulped before jumping out of the way, narrowly avoiding a huge sludge of Ink that the Shadow Blot shot out. To make things worse, from the puddle of Ink, smaller inklings emerged.

"Oh, not good." Iago muttered worriedly, and Mushu nodded in agreement.

"What do we do?! What do we do!?" Pumbaa cried out to Timon, panicking.

Timon, terrified out of his mind, then declared boldly, "There's only one thing we can do, Pumbaa. _"When the going gets tough, the tough get going."_ That's our motto."

This only made his friend confused, as he replied, "I thought our motto was Hakuna Matata."

"Pumbaa, stop living in the past." Timon facepalmed himself, then briefly broke the fourth wall and added, "This is Season 3's final episode!" before concluding, "We need a new motto."

Despite still not getting the idea, Pumbaa nodded and then he and Timon then charged to try and prepare to fight the Inklings...only for one of the Inkings to loom over them with an opened-mouthed silent roar, which made them both scream in terror before they back-tracked and ran away.

"Like I said; Let's get GOING!" Timon screamed in horror.

"Plan C?" Iago asked in a terrified high-pitched voice.

"You're asking me!? I'm a miniture fire-breaking dragon who's stuck here, for cryin' out loud!" Mushu yelled back incredulously.

* * *

Meanwhile, Genie and the others were about to try and head to the chambers when they heard a familiar evil laugh and before they knew it, the group suddenly found themselves surrounded in a ring of fire which blasted Genie, Donald and Goofy to the wall, and flinged Lea, Isa, Reno and Rude outside, while Zack and Cloud were trapped in the middle.

"Okay, which one of you snakes are using cheap tricks instead of fighting us yourselves!?" Zack demanded as he and Cloud stood in defense to fight either Jafar and Nasira.

"Why not fight like real people!?" Cloud added.

Jafar emerged through the flames, unharmed as he sneered evilly with a nasty smile, "A snake, am I? Perhaps you'd like to see how SSSSNAKE-LIKE I CAN BE!" and as he said this and smiled broadly, his tongue had become a snake's tongue and before everyone's horrified eyes, Jafar transformed himself into a giant Cobra, and the ring of fire around Zack and Cloud became part of the snake encircling the duo.

Donald and Goofy both screamed hysterically as they both clinged onto each other, freaking out, their and Genie's eyes bugging out three-feet.

"...Oh man!" Lea muttered, terrified with wide-eyes.

"...Ah crap." Isa muttered, eyes also wide in horror.

"...Hello..." Reno muttered, his heart stopping in horror.

"Hell no." Rude muttered, shocked.

Jafar then attempted to bite at Zack and Cloud who both jumped out of the way and narrowly missed the fangs, and repeated the process the second time. The two young men swung their swords at the giant Sorcerer-turned-Snake and after the third try from Jafar's attack, Cloud successfully hit Jafar in the mouth, causing the evil sorcerer to rear back and yell in pain.

"Yeah! Go, Cloud!" Lea cheered.

In a bit of embarrassment to him and the others, Genie had turned himself, Donald and Goofy into a cheer leaders wearing " _Team Radiant Academy_ " shirts and skirts with pom poms, the trio cheering on, "Rickem, rackem, rockem, rake-stick those swords into that snake!"

"YOU ALL STAY OUT OF THISSS!" Jafar sneered at the group angrily.

"Uh...but we don't work for ya." Goofy pointed out, causing Donald to facepalm himself in shock and exasperation.

Genie on the other hand, held up a tiny flag that had " _Team Nasty Twins_ " while weakly waving it with a bored expression, chanting weakly, "Jafar, Jafar, he's our man-if he can't do it, GREAT!"

* * *

Nasira lunged at Ven who quickly hit her with the Emerald Sword at the nostril, causing her to rear back and hiss in pain, and then shrieked then Terra slashed at her side. She then hissed furiously and smacked the two of them off-guard, causing them to lose their swords while the Emerald Sword dismissed itself and they hid the wall the hundreth or so times since the fight had began.

Despite this, they rolled out of the way again while Nasira attempted to devour them only for her to hit the wall and crash through it while stopping herself from falling into a river of Lava in the Volcano. But she slithered her way out and almost hit Terra but missed when Ven jumped and pushed him down, narrowly avoiding in getting hit himself.

* * *

Mickey tried to hit the Shadow Blot with his Sword despite knowing that it was the Phantom Blot cursed to transform into this thing, and had to jump out of the way to avoid it's ink while slicing away at the Inklings that it emerged from the puddles and vanished into smaller ink blots.

He was then caught off-guard and smacked to the side, nearly hitting Iago and Mushu who moved and finally decided to try and free Aqua who was waist-deep in the sand inside the giant Hour-Glass. Mickey then saw the pedestal and had an idea, so he ran and did a somersault in the air, avoiding the Shadow Blot's grasp and when he reached the pedestal, he jumped and landed onto the Blot's shoulder, swinging his weapon at it's face, causing it to roar in agony.

Iago tried breaking the glass with his beak, only to cripple it. Once he fixed it up, he whacked it harder which only resulted in being shaken after a hard _**Clang!**_

Mushu tried to break the glass with the now un-flaming arrows only to shatter the pointy part and breaking the arrow in half, which made him groan in irritation.

Timon and Pumbaa in the meantime found themselves trapped against the wall, surrounded by Inklings who leered at them, ready to strike. Pumbaa turned around and covered his head in fear, while Timon was panicking hysterically, trying to find a way out of this alive.

It wasn't until he caught sight of Pumbaa's butt, and then saw the exit. So the Meerkat jumped onto his friend's back, and then cocked his tail like a rifle, aiming it at the Inklings.

"Nobody move! This thing's loaded. I'll let ya have it!" Timon warned.

Surprisingly, the Inklings fell for it, because they screamed like girls and ran away in fear of being blasted by Pumbaa's...uh, ' _toxic_ ' gas attack. Apparently even Ink is afraid of being gassed.

Timon laughed, then turned to his friend who looked up to see that they were both still alive, as Timon shrugged, joking, "Talk about your winds of war."

* * *

The Inklings began to appear where Genie's group was, because while Zack and Cloud continued to fight Jafar and after a couple of hits, they managed to stab the Sorcerer in the back, causing the giant Snake to scream in agony, Lea, Isa, Reno, Rude, Donald, Goofy and Genie were left to handle the Inklings which as far as they knew were preventing them from helping their friends.

But just when they were getting an upper hand, Jafar recovered and not only he smacked Genie's group to the side where they hit the ground hard with a skid before they found themselves trapped as the Inklings encircled them, leaving the group standing back to back while facing off their enemies, but Jafar also grabbed Zack and Cloud before the duo could go and help their friends.

"Zack, Cloud! No!" Lea, Isa, Reno and Rude exclaimed in horror, while Goofy and Donald gasped, and Genie had lost consciousness.

Jafar laughed hidiously, saying to Zack and Cloud who struggled to free themselves, "Little fools! You thought you can defeat the most powerful being in the world!"

* * *

Ven and Terra were then caught by Nasira who wrapped her coils around the two, squeezing them tightly as they were left helplessly trying to break free but could not.

"It's no use to escape, fools! No matter how much you fight me, Jafar and I are the ONLY rulers of this Earth. As long as the Arabian Ruby remains whole, we will live forever!" Nasira declared victoriously, laughing evilly.

* * *

With the Shadow Blot seemingly distracted, Mickey hurried towards the Arabian Ruby to try and shatter it into pieces while Iago and Mushu still tried to free Aqua who was almost completely buried in the Sand. But all three of them were suddenly grabbed by the Shadow Blot in both hands, squeezing them tightly and causing Mickey to lose his grip on the Sword Genie gave him.

Mickey tried to wriggle and squirm his way free, but the grip was so tight he couldn't even move an inch out of the grasp of the Shadow Blot who grinned evilly at it's captives, making a monsterous sound that suspiciously sounded like an evil laugh.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna DIE!" Iago hysterically screamed in panic.

"That's just great, now what!? We're DOOMED!" Mushu hysterically panicked, being on the verge of crying in loss.

' _What'm I gonna do? I can't get us outta this on my own!_ ' Mickey panicked as he felt the devastating defeat, then gasped in horror as the Shadow Blot slowly began to draw them towards it's mouth and he shook in terror. With tears of defeat falling and trying to squirm his way out again, Mickey couldn't help but think about everyone he would never see again, everyone who were all doomed to become slaves to Jafar and Nasira.

Timon and Pumbaa could only watch in horror, until the former noticed the Arabian Ruby still sitting there and, upon realising that there was only one thing left to do, the Meerkat then suddenly steeled himself up and then stood on the rock, preparing to make a risky and heroic act.

"What are you doing, Timon?" Pumbaa asked, surprised.

"There's only one thing to do, Pumbaa, old pal." Timon began boldly, "I, Timon, your fearless friend, will go and rescue that kid, polly and that mini-dragon!" before zooming off and raced towards the Ruby, surprisingly avoiding the Inklings that lingered around in his path.

But rather than going for the Ruby, Timon quickly used a rope and a broken arrow before hurriedly made a make-shift bow before grabbing hold another arrow, then called up to the Shadow Blot who was about to eat Mickey, Iago and Mushu, "Hey, Inky-Winky! Better make a Eye-Contact appointment!"

As the Shadow Blot turned to see who was speaking to it in 'animal' language, Timon awkwardly fired the arrow at it's face, narrowly missing it's eye, but still caused it some distraction and pain, and it also loosened it's grip on Mickey and his two friends who realised what was happening.

Despite not knowing where the Meerkat and the Warthog had come from or how they got here, Mickey took this chance to wriggle free and then jumped out and landed on the ground, this time close to the Ruby and then successfully yanked it off the pedestal while it was still distracted.

The result of him yanking it off caused the Shadow Blot to freeze all together, but it's face still moved, and both Iago and Mushu saw their chance of escape as the Parrot flew out and then grabbed his friend in his talons before flying away from the Shadow Blot.

* * *

The removal of the Ruby also froze Nasira and Jafar as well as the Inklings while forcing the twins to release their grip on their prisoners who, along with everyone else, were stunned and confused on what just happened.

It wasn't until Nasira realised what was happening and gasped, but she could not move, and was horrified. She then exclaimed in horror, "MY RUBY!"

"THE RUBY!" Jafar exclaimed, equally horrified, also realising what just happened.

* * *

Mickey just smirked, and with a victorious and determined expression, he held the Ruby high in the air before thrusting it onto a nearby pointy rock hard and the impact caused the jewel to break and shatter, cracking in half while the bright red light of being destroyed flared up, forcing Mickey and everyone else in the chamber to back off and shield their eyes to avoid in being blinded.

With the Ruby destroyed and broken in half, the spell was finally broken and it then did many things, all in order. First, the Shadow Blot moaned and roared in pain as it's body began to melt and shrink to the ground. Mickey, Iago, Mushu, Timon and Pumbaa looked up to see this and stood in awe as the Shadow Blot vanished before their eyes, leaving behind an exhausted Phantom Blot who was on his knees, panting.

"The Phantom Blot!" Mickey exclaimed, both annoyed yet very relieved.

"Better him than his alter-ego." Mushu shrugged, relieved and dismissively, and Iago nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what about Aqua!" Iago exclaimed.

Gasping and realising that Aqua was still trapped inside the hour glass and was almost completely buried, Mickey hurried over while grabbing his fallen sword and then smashed the glass open, with sand and a nearly unconscious Aqua spilling out. Mickey gently cradled her in worry and relief.

* * *

"NOOOOOO!" Nasira shrieked, as her body began to fade and wilther and disintegrate while Ven and Terra watched on in awe before nodding as the younger teen hurried inside the Chamber to meet up with Mickey and the others, with Terra, realising that he hadn't come alone, quickly followed.

"Guys!" Ven cried out, which got Mickey and the others' attentions while Aqua sat up, recovering quickly. The younger teen and Terra, also relieved, hurried over towards them. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Not too sure about the Phantom Blot though." Mickey replied, gazing at the exhausted criminal as the others followed his gaze.

"Are you saying that we should go and save him? Even after all the trouble he's caused?" Mushu asked, shocked.

Mickey nodded, "I'm not his biggest fan, but we can't leave him here!"

Ven, Terra, and Aqua shared glances before they nodded. They made up their minds.

* * *

Jafar grunted in agony as Genie-who recovered-Lea, Isa, Reno, Rude, Cloud, Zack, Donald and Goofy watched on while beginning to feel the effects of the volcano beginning to shake violently. Jafar then began to glow in electricity and then flashed like he was being electrocuded, his entire snake-skeletion showing. He was dying again.

"We gotta find Mickey and the others!" Goofy cried out urgently.

"They're they are!" Reno shouted, seeing Mickey, Ven, Terra, Aqua, Iago, Mushu, and even Timon and Pumbaa running through the tunnels towards them, and to the redhead's and everyone else's shock, the unconscious Phantom Blot who was carried by the arms by Ven and Terra.

"We'll explain later!" Ven quickly told them, then turned to Genie and told him, "Genie! Get us outta here!"

Genie nodded and turned himself into an airplane with everyone already onboard and then he zoomed right out of the place before it collasped with jet-engines for good measure. Both Nasira and Jafar in the meantime continued to scream in agony until finally both of them exploded in particles of magic and dust, and the entire volcano domain erupted in lava, spilling into the ocean while the heroes made their escape.

Once they were safely out, Mickey and his friends all cheered in victory and happily.

"We did it!" Ven cheered.

"And it looks like Mickey's the hero this time." Terra praised at their friend who blushed sheepishly.

Mickey laughed, "Aw, I couldn't have done it without these two. They're the ones who helped to save the day." gesturing at Timon and Pumbaa who both blushed bashfully. He then added to the others, "Besides, we all did it together."

"Yeah." Ven nodded, before declaring, "Well, let's head home. We still have one more thing to do, especially with this guy." gazing at the Phantom Blot who moaned, still unconscious and exhausted.

No one argued with him on that.

* * *

Due to Nasira's Ruby destroyed and losing it's magic forever, Radiant City returned to normal once again and just as Shantotto, the three SOLDIERS and the three Turks were about to attack the monsters again, they stopped as the monsters froze before they all vanished into dust, the City restored to it's original glory, and the dark red clouds fading away.

Everyone at the Academy also noticed as they all looked up and then, realising that Mickey and the others had saved the world, most of them cheered happily at the success.

"Well, they've done it again." Eraqus said with a smile. Xehanort and Ansem both nodded in agreement.

Vanitas smirked, before muttering to himself, "Sign me up for the next heroic adventure."

With Shantotto and her group, they all realised what happened and held smirks and relieved expressions and smiles.

"The world is saved once again." Tseng surmised.

Sephiroth snorted, "Something even I did not do, but that's just fine with me."

"Even with the chances so thin, it is miracle that they indeed win." Shantotto smirked.

"Man, those kids are somethin'." Legend grinned, and Balto and Genesis both nodded in agreement.

Nearby and unaware to them, Pete and Moggler, who had arrived after escaping from a horde of monsters, overheard this and groaned in dismay.

"This mean we don't get the Ruby, Kupo? That is so unfair, Kupo." Moggler complained.

"Well," Pete began, shrugging, "Could be worse."

"Ahem." A familiar voice spoke behind the duo, and when both Pete and Moggler turned to see who it was, there stood the now freed Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz who'd been on scout duty after Nasira and Jafar left, and now that they were no longer possessed, the trio glared at their fellow but trouble making students. It was Kadaj who spoke.

"I think you two should come with us back to Galbadian Academy." Kadaj suggested with a grin, and his two brothers shared it.

"Aw nuts." Pete groaned.

"Kupo..." Moggler hung his head in defeat. They were gonna be in trouble with the Headmasters of Galbadian Academy...again.

* * *

A few days later, all of Radiant Academy, City and even Midgar lined up in front of the ShinRa Building in Midgar, with Tseng, Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis, Shantotto, Legend, Balto, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ven, Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Cloud, Zack, Reno, Rude, Iago, Mushu, Genie, and even Timon and Pumbaa facing the crowd that were here to congratulate them for their success.

Due to the President being unavaliable, Rufus instead was the one to hand out the medals to them, saying, "I herby award the medals for your heroic achievements for saving us from the evil of Nasira, Jafar and the Phantom Blot."

The Vice President then saluted to the group who saluted in return and everyone else cheered, some of them laughing as Goofy's pants fell down and revealed his mini red-hearts underpants. In the prison cells of the building, the Phantom Blot, having been arrested yet again, sat there miserably in prison garments.

"And retrieving Scrooge's money." Rufus added.

The words from the vice President made Mickey and his friends suddenly realise that they forgot that Scrooge had spend some of his money for the expedition to find the Ruby and slapped themselves on the head.

"Oh my gosh! The Ruby!" Mickey exclaimed.

Approaching them, a very unhappy Scrooge approached while grumbling in annoyance, "Aye, me Ruby. Despite it was cursed, it nearly costed me fortune!"

Despite that the jewel was now worthless since, while it no longer had it's magic, Mickey did at least grab the two broken pieces and had placed them in a box.

"Say, uh, here's your Ruby." Mickey apologetically said to Scrooge, with a box in hand.

Or should I say two boxes.

"And here's the other half." Goofy added, holding out an identical box. "No charge."

Scrooge rolled his eyes and just shook his head.

And yet even though Nasira and Jafar were ultimately destroyed for good with the world saved once more, everyone knew that there would most likely be more unexpected adventures and new and other old enemies out there.

* * *

From the distance outside of Midgar, standing on a hill was none other than Yen Sid who had witnessed what had happened.

"There are still more that needs to be done." He said to himself.

Because even he knew, and as you and I both know as well...

Life WON'T ever be Normal.

TO BE CONTINUED IN SEASON 4...

* * *

 **A/N: And, there you have it! The big finale of Life NEVER was Normal-Season 3! And as you can guess, due to more ideas forming in my mind for the continuing adventures of our Radiant Academy heroes, a fourth season is being put into mind though it won't start straight away, but I will start on it eventually.**

 **However, I can tell you that the title of season 4 is "Life WON'T be Normal", though it will have to wait as I want to update my other stories and maybe start up another one as well, or two.**

 **In the meantime, thank you so much for sticking with me on this big adventure, loving it, supporting it, and ect for the past one and half years. See you all again in my other stories!**

 **May Kingdom Hearts and the Lifestream guide you.**


End file.
